MEPs call for fair burden sharing and solidarity

The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on illegal immigration calling for fair burden sharing and solidarity among the member states.

The EP's resolution echoes the several calls made by Maltese MEPs who have long been insisting on the importance of burden sharing.

In June, the European Commission had effectively stated that the pilot project of voluntary burden sharing had failed.

During the Justice and Home Affairs Council that took place that month, Minister Chris Said had called on the Commission to review the Dublin convention so that it ceases to impose disproportionate pressure on Malta.

Today's resolution calls for more money for asylum policy, the joint processing of asylum applications and a stronger role for the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) to promote closer cooperation among EU countries.

The MEPs insisted that the relocation of internationally-protected persons within the EU should take account of their best interests.

The EP called on the European Commission to include a so-called "EU distribution key" for relocating beneficiaries of international protection in its future legislative proposal for a permanent intra-EU relocation mechanism.

The system would take account of beneficiaries' best interests and integration prospects and objective indicators for member states, such as GDP, population and surface area.

According to the EP, the distribution key could help EU countries facing disproportionate pressures on their national asylum systems or in emergency situations.

Among other proposals, the MEPs also called on the Commission to study the feasibility of introducing a system for also relocating asylum seekers.

"In this text we have spelled out what solidarity means in practice: burden sharing between the different Member States. Now we look to the Commission to pass on to us the relevant legislative proposals so that we can continue the work we committed to undertake since 1999", rapporteur Kyriacos Triantaphyllides said.

His resolution was adopted with 584 in favour, 41 against and 54 abstentions.

Processing asylum applications jointly would enable member states to support each other at various stages of the asylum application processing procedure, such as identifying applicants, preparing first-instance decisions, conducting interviews or making recommendations.

The European Parliament welcomed the study launched by the Commission to investigate the legal and practical implications of a joint processing system in the EU.

The MEPs also wanted to allocate "sufficient resources' to the Asylum and Migration Fund, which should be "flexible and easy to mobilise" so as to respond to unforeseen pressures or emergencies.

They also called for the creation of a "well-resourced mechanism" to compensate member states receiving higher numbers of asylum seekers and welcome the possibility of increasing Commission contributions to asylum projects.

The resolution also called for a stronger role of the EASO, which according to the EP, "has the potential to promote closer cooperation" and  "help reduce the significant divergences in asylum practices".

The resolution noted the agency's role "in coordinating and supporting common action" to assist countries which are subject to particular pressures.

However, MEPs insisted that "the impact of the EASO will depend on the willingness of member states to make full use" of its potential.