Call for Commission role on asylum rules

Date: 22/05/1997

By Simon Coss

SPAIN will call for the European Commission to be given a greater role in applying EU rules on the handling of applications for asylum at a meeting of justice and home affairs ministers next week.

Seven years after Union governments signed the Dublin Convention, aimed at preventing member states from playing 'pass the parcel' with unwanted refugees by attempting to offload them on to their EU neighbours, several have yet to ratify the accord.

The convention will make the EU a one-stop shop for asylum-seekers. One Union country will take responsibility for each asylum request and, if it is rejected, the applicant will not be able to try again in other member states.

With the Irish parliament on the verge of approving the deal, officials are now confident that it will enter into force before the end of the month, without waiting for relative EU newcomers Austria, Finland and Sweden to complete the ratification process.

But this will not mark the end of the story. While the original document outlined key policy aims, ministers still need to draw up protocols detailing how the agreement will work. Divisions have already emerged over the composition of the adjudication committee which would arbitrate in cases where member states could not agree on who should handle an application.

Madrid is unhappy with suggestions that the committee should simply be the normal Council of justice and home affairs ministers and wants a more Communautaire approach involving the Commission.

Spain has also indicated it will wait to see exactly what comes out of the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations before taking any final decisions. The IGC is currently considering moving certain aspects of asylum and visa policy from the Maastricht Treaty's intergovernmental 'third pillar' into the 'first pillar' of European Community competence.

However, Spain's outbreak of 'Europeanism' is being seen by many as a classic example of political hostage-taking. Following a recent spat with Belgium over the extradition of suspected Basque separatist terrorists, Spain wants the updated treaty to forbid member states from giving asylum to each other's citizens.

Madrid is also worried that leaving adjudication in intergovernmental hands could compromise its position on the UK colony of Gibraltar, which it regards as Spanish territory.

But officials are confident that ministers will be able to reach a compromise when they meet next Wednesday (28 May).

“The presidency will probably issue a declaration saying that it is prepared to consider proposals to 'communitarise' the Dublin Convention without prejudice to the outcome of the IGC,” said one.

Ministers will also hold talks with their central and eastern European counterparts on whether or not they should adopt Union asylum rules. Despite a growing realisation that high standards in justice and internal security will be one of the most important preconditions for entry into the Union, political support is wavering as the cost of such a move becomes clear.

Although the candidate countries are keen to support any measure that would gain them favour in EU circles, they are beginning to realise that implementing the Dublin rules is a very complex and expensive task.