| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 7.6.03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 09/06/2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A year after immigration issues featured high on the agenda at the Seville European Council, EU leaders are to discuss them again at the Summer meeting of the European Council in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003 as Europe's electorate remain concerned about how their national governments are tackling the challenges of immigration. Up for discussion will be a package of measures adopted by the European Commission on 3 June 2003, which are all intended to further develop an integrated EU approach to immigration issues. Two of these measures focus on the fight against illegal immigration whilst the other proposal seeks to improve the integration of legal immigrants, seen as an essential instrument in achieving the Lisbon goals of making the EU the world's most competitive and knowledge-based economy by 2010. Background According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there were over 384,000 applications for asylum in the European Union in 1991. The largest origin of applicants was Iraq, the home country of almost 10% of asylum applicants followed by Afghanistan, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Many European citizens believe that such a large number of immigrants threaten their own opportunities for employment whilst putting pressure on the social security system. In the face of such challenges, immigration and asylum policy has become a fundamental part of the EU's wider approach to justice and home affairs that was launched at the meeting of the European Council in Tampere, Finland in December 1999. At the summit, EU leaders agreed to establish "an area of freedom, security and justice" with four main priorities:
Following up on the decisions made in Tampere, EU leaders agreed to take further steps at both the Laeken and Seville European Councils, including a number of initiatives aimed at combating illegal immigration such as the introduction of a common identification system for visa data and the creation of a network of Member States' immigration liaison officers by the end of 2002. The heads of state and government also agreed to speed up current legislative work on the framing of a common EU immigration and asylum policy, with the aim of adopting minimum standards for qualification and status as refugees by June 2003 and the adoption of common standards for asylum procedures by the end of June 2003. More background on the EU's approach to asylum and immigration issues can be found in European Sources Online's earlier In Focus: Package of measures concerning immigration Ensuring that asylum and immigration issues remain near the top of the EU's agenda, the European Commission adopted a package of measures on 3 June 2003 in keeping with the approach agreed at Tampere of developing an integrated response to the issues of illegal immigration, asylum and the integration of legal immigrants into the EU's labour market. Developing a common policy on illegal immigration The Communication on the development of a common policy on illegal immigration [COM(2003)323] also focuses upon the smuggling and trafficking of human beings, external borders and the return of illegal residents. In accordance with the conclusions of the Seville European Council in 2002, the Communication sets out a number of priorities to be implemented in the coming months:
Commenting on the Communication, Antonio Vitorino, European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, said:
Better managed asylum systems In another Communication adopted on 3 June 2003 [COM(2003)315], the European Commission set out its ideas on how to develop a more accessible, equitable and managed asylum system. There are three fundamental elements to the European Commission's proposals:
The European Commission's proposal has largely been stimulated by the debate at the 2003 Spring European Council on asylum systems, provoked by a letter from the UK Prime Minister to the EU Presidency calling for a discussion on the need for "better management of the asylum process". At the meeting, the UK government presented a paper suggesting that relocate initial asylum-claim processing should be relocated beyond the EU's frontiers, in so-called "zones of protection". [For more information on this proposal, consult European Sources Online's previous In Focus entitled " The latest Communication follows on from the European Commission's "Communication on the common asylum policy and the Agenda for protection" [COM(2003)152] that was presented on 26 March 2003, which recognised the crisis in the asylum system around Europe and identified the need for a structured response. Therefore, it not only provides a brief analysis of the UK paper but also examines other possible solutions submitted by the UNHCR as well as ideas from the European Commission itself. The reactions of non-governmental organisations to the proposals are also summarised. Despite strong criticism of the UK asylum plans from UNHCR, the European Commission concludes that "the UK paper provides the right analysis of the deficiencies in the current international protection regime and asks the appropriate questions, helping to address the challenges the EU asylum system faces". However, it warns about the legal, financial and practical questions raised by the UK proposal, particularly in the context of the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees and the moral issue of potentially shifting the asylum burden to poorer countries. The reaction from other EU Member States to the UK proposal has been mixed. Whilst the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria are strongly pushing the idea, other countries are displaying more reticence with the Swedish government expressing particularly strong reservations at a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 5 June 2003. Those Member States that are less enthusiastic about the proposals seem to be concerned about the legal and financial issues that have been raised by the European Commission. It has been suggested that pilot projects could be set up to see how the scheme works in practice. Meanwhile, the UNHCR has tabled an alternative plan with the European Union, which would ensure that all asylum claims are processed within Europe and that refugees would still be offered asylum throughout Europe. Fundamental to the UNHCR's approach are measures to provide solutions and arrangements in regions of origin, to be complemented by an EU-based approach to deal with certain caseloads of essentially unfounded applications lodged primarily by "economic migrants" resorting to the asylum channel. The European Commission's approach foresees the introduction of an EU-wide resettlement scheme based on transferring refugees to a country where they would obtain legal residency and possibilities of integration and autonomy. Better integration of legal immigrants Moving away from the issue of too many illegal immigrants, the third measure of the "immigration package" proposed by the European Commission focuses on improving the integration of legal immigrants, viewed as an essential part of the EU's economy. In the "Communication on immigration, integration and employment" [COM(2003)336] the European Commission examines the potential impact which immigrants are likely to have on employment and economic growth. The paper notes that legal immigrants are set to play an important role in achieving the goals set out at the Lisbon European Council of becoming the world's most competitive and knowledge-based economy by 2010 as the European Union faces up to the challenges of an ageing and declining population. In recognition of the important contribution that legal immigrants are set to make to the EU "s economy, the Communication outlines a number of initiatives intended to ensure their full participation not only in the labour market but also in social, cultural and civic life. Commenting on the proposal, Anna Dimantopoulou said:
From the legal perspective, the Communication emphasises the importance of the policy on third country nationals as well as recent efforts for a Directive on the admission of students, volunteers and researchers. It also notes that the legal framework to combat discrimination and Regulation 1408/71 granting third country nationals the same protection as EU workers in the field of social security protection should provide the cornerstone in view of the future adoption of the directives on the status of long-term residents and admission for employment with Directives such as that recognising the qualifications of third country nationals essential in the future. On the policy front, the European Commission is suggesting a number of measures to increase the participation of legal immigrants into Europe's social and cultural life such as:
The development of these policies along with other suggestions would be founded upon the exchange of information and good practice in the recently established network of national contact points for integration. Towards a Tampere-II agenda? All three measures discussed above are likely to form the basis of an-depth discussion on immigration issues at the Thessaloniki European Council on 20 June 2003. A year after limited progress on asylum measures was achieved at the Seville European Council, EU leaders will be looking to take the process further forward. Certainly, the Communications adopted by the European Commission in June 2003 have highlighted that the challenges facing Europe both in terms of the burdens of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants as well as the need for more "economic immigrants" are here to stay and therefore, whilst the objectives laid out at Tampere may be increasingly achieved, more measures will still be necessary. Indeed, there are suggestions from Brussels officials that it is time to set out a Tampere-II agenda that would seek to deliver a more co-ordinated and integrated approach to immigration issues in the future. Further information within European Sources Online:
Further information can be seen in these external links: EU Institutions European Commission News Organisations
Helen Bower 7 June 2003 The European Commission adopted a package of measures on 3 June 2003, which are all intended to further develop an integrated EU approach to immigration issues. |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
