Gemeenschappelijk Europees asielbeleid stap dichterbij (en)

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) endorsed yesterday, Tuesday November 27, the outcome of the trilogue with the European Parliament held on November 14, 2012 on the pending comitology elements of the Dublin regulation and the entire text of the Regulation. Also yesterday, the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee of the European Parliament voted in an orientation vote for the political endorsement of the full agreement.

Yesterday’s official agreement of the remaining open issues of the Dublin text concludes the long and difficult negotiations on this very important piece of legislation in the field of asylum, where many of the “political” aspects of the Regulation were agreed upon in Coreper II in the summer of 2012. The agreement on this new Dublin text (the so-called Dublin-III regulation) exemplifies the continued efforts of the Cyprus Presidency to implement the European Council’s objectives to establish the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by the end of 2012.

The draft recast Regulation was tabled by the European Commission at the end of 2008 and negotiations proceeded for almost four years, due to the political sensitivity attached to the Regulation. The Regulation determines which Member State is responsible to examine an application of an asylum seeker who has submitted an application to more than one Member State, or an asylum seeker who has submitted an application to a Member State other than the one he/she first entered into the European Union.

Two legislative texts, part of the Common European Asylum System (the Directive of the Qualification and Status of Refugees and the Directive on the Reception Conditions for asylum seekers) have already been adopted, while the other two pending texts (the Asylum Procedures Directive and the EURODAC i Regulation) are proceeding swiftly.

The Presidency is working hard to conclude the trilogues with the European Parliament in the former and is awaiting for the Parliament to adopt its position on the latter. The aim in both cases is to have a political agreement on these texts by the end of the year.

The agreement on the Dublin Regulation proves that when both co-legislators are willing to work together and to reach agreement, the European Union can achieve results which are positive for the EU and for those who are in need of international protection.

The official adoption of the Regulation will be done by the Justice and Home Affairs Council of Ministers and the Plenary of the European Parliament.