Activites

• 1995/10/16 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1995/09/21 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0400/1995 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr WIEBENGA (ELDR, NL), Parliament approved the communication from the Commission on immigration and asylum. In its resolution, Parliament called on the Commission to present, before 1 January 1996, a working programme based on this resolution and containing a schedule for the measures to be introduced and their financing. The Commission was also called on to play a greater role in this particular area, with the target being the rapid harmonization of asylum and immigration policies and the possibility of bringing within the Community system a set of criteria for granting residence permits to refugees. . According to Parliament, the concept of providing a temporary reception for refugees should be the object of a Commission proposal containing at least the following: . the conditions of temporary reception, . the duration of the period of reception . the type of reception offered. Parliament also took the view that asylum and immigration policies should progressively become Community-based and that in this capacity any "resolution" or "recommendation" from the Council should be presented to Parliament under the provision of Article K6 of the Treaty on European Union. Parliament also put forward a series of proposals relating to each of the areas covered by the Commission in its communication: - Migration: . presentation of a proposal which aims to coordinate more effectively the study and the processing of information relating to migration (in the form of a monitoring centre); . definition of an appropriate policy for migration prevention in the European Union; . adoption of Community criteria for assessing asylum applications and common definition of the procedures applicable to the reception and protection of refugees; . drafting of a framework directive on immigration (to be followed by individual directives) which relates to access to the employment market, training, short-term working and the return of migrants, and introduction of a directive on family entry and settlement (on behalf of the current resolution); - Asylum: . adaptation of the asylum legislation applied by Member States, so that the procedures involved cannot take more than 3 years; . drafting of a common definition of the concept of "refugee" in the light of Article 1A of the Geneva Convention, while ensuring that refugee status is granted to anyone who is a real victim of persecution; . implementation of measures which take particular account of persons who are in a precarious legal position (children, women and unaccompanied minors); . introduction of minimum guarantees in respect of asylum procedures in the Member States, in order that: * all applicants might receive a full and fair hearing, * applicants are not transferred to non-member countries (or turned away) by Member States if effective refugee protection can be provided, * requests can only be rejected by responsible bodies, * applicants whose request has been rejected have the right of legal appeal (in the knowledge that any appeal will have a suspensive effect on deportation); . introduction by Member States of a framework of measures for persons who have undergone expatriation for reasons of serious distress, to comprise the provision of temporary reception, which does not call into question their right to apply for asylum at the end of this initial period; . introduction of a European system for the global reception of refugees, asylum seekers, etc., in order that the responsibility for such reception might be equally shared by the Member States; - Illegal immigration: . presentation of a proposal for the consistent repatriation of illegal immigrants; . strengthening of measures to combat illegal smuggling and black-market labour in the Member States; - Racism and xenophobia: . submission of a proposal for a directive to counteract discrimination; . measures to combat racism and xenophobia to be included in the priorities set for the European Community within the framework of the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference; . a code of good practice which prohibits racial discrimination is to be drawn up before 1997; - Integration: . introduction of measures which give priority to immigrants who are normally resident in the Community (easier access to dual nationality, granting of active and passive voting rights at local, regional and European level, etc.) . harmonization of measures relating to residence in the European Community in order to consolidate the status of immigrants who are normally resident in the EC; . setting up a Community programme which will include measures relating to professional training, the integration of respect for cultural identity, etc.; . promotion of basic standards for the treatment of immigrants, refugees and others, in respect of social security, employment, family entry and settlement, etc. Finally, Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to organize an exchange of experience in this field in order to determine whether an active immigration policy will be necessary in the future. �

• 1995/09/20 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    The rapporteur, Mr Wiebenga, felt that the Commission’s proposals were disappointing. He wanted to see a working programme that was in line with Parliament’s position and that contained more precise details on the implementation of the policy together with a schedule and a financial statement for the measures proposed. He regretted the attitude of the Justice Ministers, who said that they wanted to implement an asylum and immigration policy but then used their veto, which should be abolished in this area. The rapporteur set out a series of priorities: - a policy to prevent immigration at EU level, with the establishment of an immigration monitoring centre; - the introduction of a European system for the reception of asylum-seekers, displaced persons and refugees in order that the responsibility for such reception might be equally shared by the Member States; - negotiation within the IGC of Parliament’s role under the third pillar. Commissioner GRADIN stated that the Commission would certainly consult Parliament on the main aspects of the asylum and immigration policy. It would try to resolve the deadlock in the Council over the draft convention on customs controls at the Union’s external borders. Before the end of the year the Commission would present a report on the possibility of applying Article K.9 (communitisation) to the asylum policy. The Commissioner also proposed that the first six paragraphs of Article K.1 (customs, drugs, etc.) should be transferred from the third pillar to the first pillar (criminal and police cooperation would remain under the third pillar). Other initiatives included: - the rules applicable to immigration and residence conditions; - family reunification; - the status of immigrants residing legally in the Union; - the conditions governing the temporary residence of refugees and people fleeing their country, with the problem of their return; - the study on sharing the responsibility for the reception of refugees among Member States. Finally, two communications would clarify: - the relationship between the development and assistance policy and the possibility of preventing illegal immigration; - migratory flows and political, social, ethnic and religious tensions.

• 1995/06/27 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0169/1995
• #1859
• 1995/06/20 Council Meeting
• 1994/04/18 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1994/02/23 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1994)0023 summary

    This Commission communication related to the immigration and asylum policies in the European Union and defined the guiding framework for the future European policy on this issue. The main areas of reflection proposed by the Commission to reach a global agreement on immigration and asylum in Europe were defined as follows: - working on migratory pressure, particularly by cooperating with the main countries of potential emigration to Europe: to meet this objective, the migration and asylum policies should be fully integrated in the Union's external policies and the various instruments in the matter should be used (e.g. in the fields of trade, development and cooperation, humanitarian assistance and human rights); - controlling immigration in order to maintain it within structures that could be managed: to this end, the communication proposed that there should be a joint political response to the problems of admitting workers, students and refugees and to the problem of illegal immigration; - giving greater consideration to the integration policies concerning legal immigrants: in this context, the communication suggested that the integration policies should improve the situation of nationals of third countries who had taken up residence legally (e.g.: though the creation of economic and socio-cultural conditions that benefited successful integration and dialogue with immigrant communities). �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1994)0023
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0169/1995
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0400/1995

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)