EU Regulation on Asylum and Migration Management endorsed
- Mandatory solidarity for EU countries recognised as being under migratory pressure
- Relocations and/or financial contributions
- Additional criteria to determine which member state is responsible for examining international protection applications, replacing Dublin rules
On Wednesday Parliament approved a new EU asylum and migration policy based on the principle of solidarity and the fair sharing of responsibility.
According to the agreed legislation, all member states will have to contribute to helping EU countries recognised as being under migratory pressure (“benefitting member states”), i.e. where the arrivals of applicants are of such a scale as to create disproportionate obligations compared to the overall situation in EU and requiring immediate solidarity action.
Relocations and/or financial contributions
A solidarity pool will be established every year, to which all EU countries will have to contribute with relocations (i.e. transfers of an applicant or a beneficiary of international protection from the territory of a benefitting member state to the territory of a contributing one) or financial contributions. The calculation of each member state’s contribution is based on the size of the population (50%) and its GDP (50%), while each country is free to decide on the type of contribution.
Member states declared as being under migratory pressure will notify the Council and the Commission of their intention to use the pool and be able to request a partial or full deduction of their own solidarity contributions.
The new regulation sets the minimum threshold for relocations at 30,000 applicants and the financial contribution at €600 million. In case of insufficient pledges for relocations, a member state with persons to be transferred to the responsible member state as per the responsibility criteria can be requested to take responsibility for examining the applications for international protection if the responsible member state is a benefitting member state, instead of contributing with relocations.
The right to apply for international protection will not include a choice by the applicant as to which member state should be responsible for examining the application or to which member state they should be relocated.
Search and Rescue
The specific situation of countries with recurring Search and Rescue (SAR) operations at their borders is considered when assessing migratory pressure and a specific percentage of solidarity measures should be set apart from the solidarity pool for member states under pressure due to SAR.
In the identification process of the persons to be relocated and their possible matching with member states of relocation, consideration will be given to addressing vulnerabilities, including those of unaccompanied minors and after search and rescue.
Financing of actions in the EU and in third countries
Financial contributions will support actions in the EU in the area of migration, reception and asylum. Member states can also provide support for actions in or in relation to non-EU countries with a direct impact on the migration flows towards the EU. Financial support can also be directed to improve the asylum, reception and migration systems of the concerned third country, including for assisted voluntary return and reintegration programmes. Actions in a third country will be financed through Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) with the safeguard that it provides.
Responsibility to examine applications for international protection
The agreed rules include additional criteria to determine which member state is responsible for processing the application for international protection (known as Dublin rules). To help determine the responsible country, family reunification cases will be prioritised and possible family links will be identified as quickly as possible. Additional criteria are: diplomas obtained in a member state, existing meaningful relations, and language knowledge. If no other criteria applies, the first member state of registration of the application for international protection would still be responsible for examining it.
MEPs were successful in negotiating a provision whereby free legal counselling during the procedure to establish responsibility at the administrative stage, including enhanced right to information during all procedural steps.
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Rappporteur Tomas Tobé (EPP, SE) said: “We now establish a comprehensive approach to migration, regaining control over our external borders and provide solidarity for Member States under migratory pressure, built on flexible and voluntary contributions. Finally, we have put an end to the political deadlock. “
Next steps
Once adopted by the Council, the regulation will apply to applications for international protection registered as from 2 years after entry into force.
The agreement on the Regulation on asylum and migration management is part of the wider revamp of the EU’s common asylum and migration rules, You can find more information here.
Contacts:
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Polona TEDESKO
Press Officer