PURPOSE: to establish provisional measures in the area
of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece in
order to enable them to deal in an effective manner with the
current significant inflow of third country nationals in their
territories, putting their asylum systems under strain.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts
the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being
obliged to follow its opinion
BACKGROUND: in accordance with Article 78(3) of the
Treaty, in the event of one or more Member States being
confronted by an emergency situation characterised by a sudden
inflow of nationals of third countries, the Council, on a
proposal from the Commission, may adopt provisional measures to the
benefit of the Member State(s) concerned.
In accordance with Article 80 of the Treaty, the
policies of the Union in the area of border checks, asylum and
immigration and their implementation should be governed by the
principles of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility
between Member States.
The European
Agenda on Migration, the recent statement of the European
Council of 23 April 2015 and the European
Parliament Resolution presented on 29 April 2015 in the wake of
the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean, all concur on the
specific and urgent needs frontline Member States are confronted
with and on the need to reinforce internal solidarity and propose
concrete measures to provide support to the most affected Member
States.
Italys and Greeces geographical situation, with the ongoing conflicts in
the region of their immediate neighbourhood makes them more
vulnerable than the other Member States in the immediate future
with unprecedented flows of migrants expected to continue to reach
their territories.
In 2014, more than 170 000 migrants arrived in Italy
alone in an irregular manner, representing an increase of 277%
compared to 2013. A steady increase was witnessed also by Greece
with more than 50 000 irregular migrants reaching the country,
representing an increase of 153% compared to 2013.
In 2014, the Syrians and the Eritreans, for
which the EU level recognition rate is more than 75%, represented
more than 40% in Italy and more than 50% in
Greece.
According to Eurostat, 64 625 persons applied for
international protection in Italy in 2014, compared to 26 920 in
2013 (an increase of 143%). A lesser increase in the number of
applications was witnessed by Greece with 9 430 applicants (an
increase of 15%).
As part of the immediate measures, the
Commission announced that, by the end of May, it will propose a
mechanism to trigger the emergency response system envisaged under
Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU). The proposal will include a temporary distribution
scheme for persons in clear need of international protection to
ensure a fair and balanced participation of all Member States to
this common effort.
CONTENT: this proposal is presented as result of a
prevailing crisis in the area of asylum in Italy and Greece. To
prevent further deterioration of the asylum situation in these two
countries and provide them with effective support, the Commission
had to react rapidly and present promptly its proposal based
on Article 78(3) of the Treaty in view of its swift adoption by the
Council and implementation of the provisional measures to the
benefit of Italy and Greece by the Member States.
Provisional relocation measures: the provisional measures envisaged by this proposal
relate first and foremost to the relocation of applicants
for international protection (Syrians and Eritreans) who appear
prima facie to be in clear need of international protection from
Italy and Greece to the other Member States. The other Member
States, defined in the proposal as the Member States of
relocation" become responsible for examining the application of the
person to be relocated. It is therefore proposed to apply the
provisional measures foreseen in this proposal for a period of
24 months from the entry into force of this
Decision.
Numerical targets: the
proposal establishes a numerical target for the applicants to be
relocated from Italy and Greece, namely 24 000 and 16 000
respectively and includes in its annexes two distribution
keys which define the number of applicants that shall be
relocated from Italy and Greece respectively to the other Member
States.
The total of 40 000 applicants that should be
relocated from Italy and Greece corresponds to approximately 40%
of the total number of persons in clear need of international
protection who have entered irregularly in these two countries
in 2014.
Relocation procedure:
the scope of the relocation procedure set out in this Decision is
limited in two respects:
(1)
this Decision shall only apply in respect of
applicants who are, prima facie, in clear need of international
protection (those applicants as those belonging to nationalities
for which the EU average recognition rate as established by
Eurostat is above 75%);
(2)
this Decision shall only apply in respect of
those applicants for whom Italy or Greece would in principle be the
Member State responsible, in line with the take charge criteria
defined in Regulation
(EU) No 604/2013.
The proposal sets out a simple relocation
procedure, to ensure a quick transfer of the persons concerned
to the Member State of relocation. Priority should be given to the
vulnerable applicants.
Further measures: in
addition to relocalisation, the proposal:
- lays down other measures of support to be provided
to Italy and Greece. In particular, the proposal envisages an
increase in the support provided by other Member States to Italy
and Greece under the coordination of EASO and other relevant
Agencies;
- provides the obligation for Italy and Greece to
present to the Commission a roadmap which shall include
adequate measures in the area of asylum, first reception and return
enhancing the capacity, quality and efficiency of their systems in
these areas as well as measures to ensure a proper application of
this Decision. The Commission may suspend, under certain
circumstances, the application of this Decision;
- includes specific guarantees and obligations for
the applicants who are subject to relocation to another Member
State (the right to receive information on the relocation
procedure, the right to be notified with the relocation decision
which must specify the precise Member State of relocation and the
right to be relocated with the family members in the same Member
State of relocation). The proposal also recalls the obligation to
give primary consideration to the best interests of the
child when deciding the Member State of relocation.
Lastly, the proposal recalls the possibility for the
Council, based on a proposal from the Commission and after
consulting the European Parliament, to adopt provisional measures
for the benefit of a Member State other than Italy or Greece
which would be confronted with a similar emergency situation
characterised by a sudden inflow of nationals of third
countries.
BUDGETARY IMPACT: this proposal entails additional
costs for the EU Budget for a total amount of EUR 240
000 000.