§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards European Union agreements on common970W asylum policy; and if he will list agreements made to date and the areas of future work including timetables for (a) agreement and(b) implementation. [29679]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 24 January 2002]The Treaty of Amsterdam committed member states to adopt by May 2004 a broad range of measures designed to establish minimum standards for asylum procedures and polices across the European Union. At the Tampere European Council in October 1999 member states agreed to look beyond the minimum standards established by 2004 towards the creation of a common European asylum system. After a slow start there is now increasing momentum on the first stage of the process to establish minimum standards. The United Kingdom has participated actively in this process and has opted in to all measures to date where the three-month time limit from formal presentation of the proposal has already expired.
The following measures have been adopted to date: Council Regulation establishing the EURODAC electronic fingerprinting database (adopted 11 December 2000); Council decision for an agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the state responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a member state or in Iceland or Norway (adopted 15 March 2001); Council decision establishing a European Refugee Fund (adopted 28 September 2000); and Council directive on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in event of mass influx (adopted 20 July 2001).
The following measures are under discussion but have not yet been agreed: Proposal for Council directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status; Proposal for a Council directive laying down minimum standards on the reception of applicants for asylum in member states: Proposal for a Council regulation replacing the Dublin Convention; and a proposal for a Council directive on minimum standards for the qualification as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection.
The Laeken European Council in December 2001 called for the Commission to bring forward revised proposals for the measures setting minimum standards for asylum procedures and the regulation to replace the Dublin Convention by the end of April 2002.