Considerations on COM(2016)468 - Union Resettlement Framework - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2016)468 - Union Resettlement Framework. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2016)468  |
| date | July 13, 2016 |
(2) In its Communication on a European Agenda on Migration 26 of 13 May 2015 the Commission set out the need for a common approach to granting protection to displaced persons in need of protection through resettlement.
(3) On 8 June 2015 the Commission addressed a Recommendation on a European Resettlement Scheme 27 to the Member States, based on an equitable distribution key. It was followed by Conclusions of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 20 July 2015 to resettle, through multilateral and national schemes, 22 504 persons in clear need of international protection 28 . The resettlement places were distributed between Member States and Dublin Associated States according to the commitments set out in the Annex to the Conclusions.
(4) On 15 December 2015, the Commission addressed a Recommendation for a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme with Turkey 29 to the Member States and Associated States recommending that participating States admit persons displaced by the conflict in Syria who are in need of international protection. According to the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016 a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated once irregular crossings between Turkey and the EU are ending or at least have been substantially and sustainably reduced. Member States will contribute on a voluntary basis to this scheme.
(5) According to the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016 all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into Greek islands as from 20 March 2016 would be returned to Turkey. For every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the Union taking into account the United Nations Vulnerability Criteria. In May 2016, the Member States and Dublin Associated States and Turkey reached a common understanding on Standard Operating Procedures guiding the implementation of this resettlement scheme.
(6) On 6 April 2016, the Commission adopted a Communication Towards a Reform of the Common European Asylum System and enhancing legal avenues to Europe 30 in which it announced it would set out a proposal for a structured resettlement system framing the Union’s policy on resettlement and providing a common approach to safe and legal arrival in the Union for persons in need of international protection.
(7) On 12 April 2016, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to Migration 31 underlining the need for a permanent Union-wide resettlement programme, providing resettlement for a meaningful number of refugees, having regard to the overall number of refugees seeking protection in the Union.
(8) Building on the existing initiatives, a stable and reliable Union Resettlement Framework should be established for the resettlement of persons in need of international protection to be implemented in accordance with annual Union resettlement plans and targeted Union resettlement schemes which effectively deliver on Member States' concrete commitments.
(9) Such a framework is a necessary part of a well-managed migration policy to reduce divergences among national resettlement practices and procedures, provide for the legal and safe arrival to the territory of the Member States of third-country nationals and stateless persons in need of international protection, help reduce the risk of a large-scale irregular inflow of third-country nationals and stateless persons to the territory of the Member States and thereby reducing the pressure of spontaneous arrivals on the Member States' asylum systems, be an expression of solidarity with countries in regions to which or within which a large number of persons in need of international protection has been displaced by helping to alleviate the pressure on those countries, help achieve Union's foreign policy objectives by increasing the Union's leverage vis-à-vis third countries, and effectively contribute to global resettlement initiatives through speaking with one voice in international fora and with third countries.
(10) In order to help reduce the risk of a large-scale irregular inflow of third-country nationals and stateless persons to the territory of the Member States, show solidarity with countries in regions to which or within which a large number of persons in need of international protection has been displaced by helping to alleviate the pressure on those countries, and help achieve the Union's foreign policy objectives, the regions or third countries from which resettlement is to occur should fit in a tailored engagement with third countries to better manage migration as foreseen in the Commission's Communication of 7 June 2016 on Establishing a new Partnership Framework with third countries under the European Agenda on Migration 32 .
(11) In order to reduce divergences among the national resettlement practices and procedures, common standard procedures and common eligibility criteria and exclusion grounds for the selection should be laid down, as well as a common protection status to be granted to resettled persons.
(12) The common standard procedures should build on the existing resettlement experience and standards of the Member States, in particular the Standard Operating Procedures guiding the implementation of the resettlement scheme with Turkey set out in the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016. The Union Resettlement Framework should allow the use of two types of standard resettlement procedures.
(13) Both types of procedure consist of the following stages: identification, registration, assessment and decision.
(14) An ordinary procedure should be established allowing for a full assessment of the international protection needs of third-country nationals or stateless persons.
(15) An expedited procedure should be established with the same level of security checks as in the ordinary procedure. However, in the expedited procedure, the assessment of the international protection needs of third-country nationals or stateless persons should be limited to an assessment of their eligibility for subsidiary protection without assessing their qualification for refugee status.
(16) The resettlement procedure should be concluded as soon as possible in order to discourage persons in need of international protection to use irregular ways to enter the European Union to seek protection. At the same time it should ensure that Member States have sufficient time for a full and adequate examination of each case. The time-limits should correspond to what is necessary to make the different types of assessment foreseen for the ordinary and expedited procedure.
(17) Any personal data collected for the purpose of the resettlement procedure should be stored for a maximum period of five years from the date of resettlement. Given that third-country nationals or stateless persons who have already been resettled by one Member State or who during the last five years refused to resettle to a Member State should be excluded from resettlement to another Member State, that period should be considered a necessary period for the storage of personal details, including fingerprints and facial images.
(18) The choice of the resettlement procedure should be made for each targeted Union resettlement scheme. An expedited procedure might be warranted on humanitarian grounds or in case of urgent legal or physical protection needs.
(19) There is no subjective right to be resettled.
(20) In order to allow for supplementing the rules which govern the procedure to be applied in targeted Union resettlement schemes, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to adapt the procedure to the circumstances in the third country from which resettlement takes place such as determining that third country’s role in the procedure. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 33 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(21) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the Union Resettlement Framework, implementing powers should be conferred on the Council for establishing the annual Union resettlement plan, fixing the maximum total number of persons to be resettled, the details about the participation of the Member States in the plan and their contributions to the total number of persons to be resettled, as well as overall geographical priorities.
(22) These powers should be exercised on a proposal from the Commission on the maximum total number of persons to be resettled and overall geographical priorities. The Commission should make its proposal simultaneously with its proposal on the draft Union annual budget. The Council should aim to adopt the proposal within two months. The Commission and the Council should take into account the discussions within the High-Level Resettlement Committee.
(23) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the Union Resettlement Framework, the Commission should be empowered to establish targeted Union resettlement schemes laying down the precise number out of the total number of persons to be resettled and participation of the Member State, consistent with the annual Union Resettlement plan. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers 34 . The examination procedure should be used for establishing targeted Union resettlement schemes given that those schemes have substantial implications. The Commission should aim to establish targeted Union resettlement schemes as soon as possible after the adoption of the annual Union resettlement plan and whenever necessary during the period covered by the annual Union resettlement plan. The Commission should take into account the discussions within the High-Level Resettlement Committee.
(24) Each targeted Union resettlement scheme should determine which standard procedural rules should apply to its implementation. It should in addition set out local cooperation arrangements where and as appropriate to facilitate its implementation.
(25) Resettled persons should be granted international protection. Accordingly, the provisions on the content of international protection contained in the asylum acquis should apply as of the moment when resettled persons arrive on the territory of the Member States, including the rules to discourage secondary movement of beneficiaries of international protection.
(26) In line with the Commission proposal for a Regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person (recast) 35 , in order to comprehensively reflect the efforts of each Member State, the number of persons effectively resettled to a Member State should be added to the number of applications for international protection for the purpose of calculating the corrective allocation mechanism proposed by the Commission.
(27) Given the expertise of UNHCR in facilitating the different forms of admission of persons in need of international protection from third countries, to which they have been displaced, to Member States willing to admit them, UNHCR should continue to play a key role in resettlement efforts conducted under the Union Resettlement Framework. In addition to UNHCR, other international actors such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) should be called upon to assist Member States in the implementation of the Union Resettlement Framework.
(28) [The European Union Agency for Asylum] should assist Member States in the implementation of Union Resettlement Framework in accordance with its mandate.
(29) A High-Level Resettlement Committee should be established to allow for broad consultations with all stakeholders on the implementation of the Union Resettlement Framework.
(30) Resettlement efforts by the Member States under this Regulation should be supported by appropriate funding from the Union's budget. To enable a proper and sustainable functioning of the resettlement schemes amendments are necessary to Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council 36 .
(31) This Regulation does not affect the ability of the Member States to adopt or implement national resettlement schemes, which do not jeopardise the attainment of the Union’s objectives under this Regulation, for example where they contribute an additional number of resettlement places to targeted Union resettlement schemes established under this Regulation going beyond their contribution to the maximum number of persons to be resettled under the annual Union resettlement plan.
(32) Complementarity with ongoing resettlement and humanitarian admission initiatives undertaken in the Union framework should be ensured.
(33) This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and should therefore be applied in a manner consistent with these rights and principles, including as regards the rights of the child, the right to respect for family life and the general principle of non-discrimination.
(34) Any processing of personal data by the authorities of the Member States within the framework of this Regulation should be conducted in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
(35) Any processing of personal data by [the European Union Agency for Asylum] within the framework of this Regulation should be conducted in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 37 as well as [Regulation (EU) No XXX/XXX (EU Asylum Agency Regulation) 38 ] and it should respect the principles of necessity and proportionality.
(36) The application of this Regulation should be reviewed simultaneously with the review of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
(37) [In accordance with Article 3 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, those Member States have notified their wish to take part in the adoption and application of this Regulation]
OR
(37) [In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, those Member States are not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and are not bound by it or subject to its application.]
OR
(37) [In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, the United Kingdom is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.
(37a)In accordance with Article 3 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Ireland has notified (, by letter of ...,) its wish to take part in the adoption and application of this Regulation.]
OR
(37) [In accordance with Article 3 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the United Kingdom has notified (, by letter of ...,) its wish to take part in the adoption and application of this Regulation.
(37a)In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, Ireland is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.]
(38) In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol (No 22) on the position of Denmark, annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU, Denmark is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.