List of safe countries

6.10.2015

Question for written answer E-013514-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE) , Michaela Šojdrová (PPE) , Pavel Svoboda (PPE)

On 9 September 2015, the Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing an EU common list of safe countries of origin. The countries proposed for this list are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, which should in future be considered safe countries of origin within the meaning of Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection. Why does this list not include countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia or Ethiopia?

Has the Commission looked into the possibility of including those countries on the list of safe countries of origin, and, if so, what specific conditions did each of those countries fail to meet?