4-5 October: Justice and Home Affairs Council

Date: 07/10/1999

EU JUSTICE and home affairs ministers met for the last time before the special law and order summit in Tampere, Finland, on 15-16 October. Preparations for the Union leaders' meeting topped the agenda, but ministers also discussed the return of refugees to Kosovo, the EU's five-year plan for tackling drug trafficking and the final report of the high-level group on asylum and immigration.

WITH only ten days to go until the Tampere summit, ministers were keen to make progress on the sensitive issue of harmonising asylum and immigration policies. France, Germany and the UK used the occasion to present a joint paper on the topic, which calls on member states to take into account the 'push and pull' causes of mass migration when drawing up their common strategy. It also calls on EU countries to ensure that international asylum conventions are respected and that a clear distinction is drawn between genuine asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

PRESENTING their joint paper to the press, French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevénement and his German counterpart Otto Schily went out of their way to reassure EU citizens that action was being taken to stem the flow of bogus asylum-seekers and said that the gains by the Austrian far-right reflected growing public fears over this issue.

THE joint paper's emphasis on tackling the root causes of migration was reflected in the final report of the high-level group on asylum and migration, which was presented to ministers at the meeting. The group has spent the past nine months drawing up a series of action plans for curbing migration flows from Afghanistan, Morocco, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Albania. Council sources said the plans could "be considered as a first attempt by the EU to define a comprehensive and coherent approach to asylum seekers and migrants" . Amongst other measures, the report recommends supporting human rights, moves to democracy and the fight against poverty in the countries concerned, recognising asylum-seekers' right to protection and combating illegal immigration.

MINISTERS held a brief discussion on the return of refugees to Kosovo. They concluded that although the end of the conflict had allowed a large number of displaced persons to return to the war-torn province, some countries had encountered difficulties arranging the return of refugees to their homeland. In the light of the new situation, certain member states said they would re-examine the legal arrangements applied to uprooted Kosovars.

THE Council held a first debate on the Union's strategy for combating drug trafficking for 2000-04 unveiled by the Commission in May. Ministers pointed out that a better exchange of information was needed, as well as an increased role for Interpol. Some countries also drew attention to the fight against synthetic drugs such as ecstasy.