§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has received from the European Commission in respect of powers exercised by virtue of any convention or treaty article concerning the standardisation of tests for accepting asylum applications to Governments of member states. [121631]
§ Mrs. RocheI am aware of no proposals from the European Commission concerning the standardisation of the criteria for the recognition of refugees, or for determining the member state responsible for determining an asylum claim made within the European Union. Such proposals would be consistent with the requirements of article 63 of the Amsterdam Treaty. However, the European Commission has to date produced only a discussion document on "Towards Common Standards on Asylum Procedures" and a working paper entitled "Revisiting the Dublin Convention". The latter seeks to initiate debate on the Dublin Convention as the first step towards developing Community legislation for determining which member state is responsible for considering an application for asylum submitted in one of the member states. The Government's view of this document can be found in the Home Office Explanatory Memorandum dated 10 May, deposited in the Library. The Government's view on the discussion paper "Towards common Standards on Asylum Procedures" can be found in the Home Office Explanatory Memorandum dated 26 March 2000 deposited in the Library.