By Bruno Waterfield - 30th April 2004
‘Fortress’ Europe’s justice ministers have pulled up the EU’s asylum drawbridge ahead of a May 1 enlargement deadline.
A move to establish EU-wide processing procedures for refugees is a key step to a common European asylum policy.
“It was the missing element in finalising the common EU asylum programme,” said the Irish EU presidency.
“The agreement achieved on this directive is of immense importance… we have now put in place the final cornerstones of a common EU asylum system.”
Fudging on some of the detail and pushing down human rights standards, according to some campaigners, the deal has been three years in the making.
Talks ended after Germany, Spain and the UK accepted an 11th hour compromise that refugee groups, including the UN, believe have reduced protections for asylum seekers.
“There is still a danger that essential safeguards for refugees will not be provided,” said a spokesman for UNHCR.
Plans to set out EU-wide rules on appeals for refugees and agreement on ‘safe’ third countries to where failed asylum seekers can be deported have been shaped by national politics.
Europe’s governments are nervous of appearing soft on asylum amid calls for EU crackdowns on immigration.
EU rules aim, as Europe expands eastwards, to standardise procedures preventing asylum seekers from taking advantage of differing guidelines in member states.
Berlin – under fire on immigration from right wing opposition parties – welcomed the agreement as “an important step in the fight against asylum shopping”.
To seal a deal the Irish EU presidency has had to fudge a key details, leaving appeals mechanisms for failed asylum seekers to national provisions.
A key compromise, and loss of protection, will see no guarantee that a refugee can remain in an EU country while appealing.
Criteria – though not a list – for establishing ‘safe’ countries of origin or transit, will allow fast track deportations of failed asylum seekers at EU borders.
EU justice chief Antonio Vitorino admitted that protections for refuges had been sacrificed at the altar of anti-immigrant politics.
“We regret it but it was the best we could get,” he said.
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