IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/TURKEY (c)
The fog was dense in Luxembourg when the Council meeting for Justice and Home Affairs was about to start. Several of the ministers could not land because the airport was closed in the morning. Various topics were on the agenda, important issues deserving more space and with many reasons to come back to.
The situation in Syria – the number of refugees from Syria is rapidly increasing. The vast majority stays in the neighbouring countries – Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon. UNHCR estimations suggest that by the end of the year 710 000 refugees will be in need of help and assistance. So far very few of those people have come to Europe, about 16 000. Much is already being done to support the recipient countries, but we can do more. To date, the EU humanitarian support has amounted to 230 million Euros. In the Commission, we are working on a plan with short-term and long-term measures regarding how the EU and the Member States can continue to support the humanitarian efforts in the region, but also regarding how we in Europe can receive more Syrians in need of protection. In addition, we are working to get a regional protection programme in place, in cooperation with UNCHR.
The Asylum package – we had a check up concerning the state of negotiations between the Council, the European Parliament, and the Commission, on the draft legislations which together will constitute the new EU common asylum and refugee system. Progress is being made and as regards the reception directive and the Dublin regulation, we are almost there, but the negotiations on the asylum procedure directive and Eurodac continue. The ambition is that the negotiations will be completed by the end of 2012 and I believe it is possible to reach a political agreement till then. The EU needs a humane common asylum system because today differences are too big from one country to another. The idea is that the new system will ensure legal certainty and a humane treatment of the individual and an equal, efficient handling. In this way, all the 27 Member States can share the responsibility.
The extension of Schengen to Bulgaria and Romania – in order for us to have a free movement of persons we have the Schengen agreement, which means that the controls of persons at the borders are removed, and are compensated by agreements on measures in other areas that need to be established as in order to ensure trust between the countries and to combat crime in the absence of border controls. Before a country is admitted to enter Schengen, it must fulfil certain requirements concerning e.g. control of external borders, police cooperation, and visa issuance. Bulgaria and Romania are working to implement changes in their legislations. A decision on entry to Schengen is taken unanimously by the Council and for the moment there is no such unanimity among the Member States.
Another very complicated question regards the visa liberalisation for citizens of the Western Balkan countries. To gradually lift the visa requirements for our neighbouring countries and partners is an important objective for me. Increased mobility enhances connections between people, something which is extremely positive. All Balkan countries, except Kosovo, have visa liberalisation with the EU. This works perfectly well in most cases, but has also resulted in a major wave of asylum seekers in e.g. France, Germany and Sweden, mostly from Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This is a significant problem since less than 1% of those applying are granted asylum. The total amount of asylum seekers has increased by 73% compared to last year. Several countries expressed concerns regarding this development which sets the whole visa process at risk. It is important that the Balkan countries do more to alter the trend. Above all, it is about improving the conditions for Roma people. The 5th of November a major ministerial meeting is organised in Albania, with all Balkan countries participating. The question will then be further discussed.
Today the Council meeting will continue with, among other things, discussions on confiscation of criminal assets and the latest report from the EU drugs agency.