According to the proposal, Finland’s share of intra-EU transfers would be around 400 asylum seekers per year. The value of one internal transfer has been calculated at 20,000 euros.
BRUSSELS / LUXEMBOURG The years-long negotiations to reform the EU’s asylum policy can move forward today, when the reform will be considered by the interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg.
The ministers are trying to find a common vision on the regulations related to the management of the asylum and immigration movement and the asylum procedure.
The focus is on the issue of solidarity-based burden sharing between EU countries. The reform of immigration policy aims at a more even distribution of responsibilities between EU countries.
Immigration Commissioner Ylva Johansson was hopeful when he arrived at the meeting of interior ministers in Luxembourg.
– I think our proposal is balanced, and it has received a lot of support. I hope that the member states are willing to make a decision today, Johansson said.
Immigration divides member countries
However, the dividing lines in immigration policy are strong, and there was still no certainty during the meeting that a common understanding would be found between the member countries.
– It is difficult to find a question where opinions are more divided, the EU source commenting anonymously estimates.
According to the source, the prerequisites for finding a common vision are around 50 percent in today’s meeting.
The overall reform of the EU’s immigration and asylum policy has been prepared since the immigration crisis of 2015. The crisis showed the shortcomings of the current rules on the distribution of responsibilities.
It has been difficult to agree on the new rules among the member countries. Opposite are the recipient countries of Southern Europe and the target countries of internal EU migration in Central and Northern Europe.
Central Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Poland, on the other hand, generally have a negative attitude towards receiving asylum seekers.
A condition for progress in the asylum reform is that member countries are not forced to receive resettled asylum seekers.
Shared responsibility and faster processing
The goal of the reform is to create an EU-wide joint responsibility mechanism that would ease the situation of member countries that are under intense pressure.
The idea is that part of the asylum seekers could be placed in other EU countries, deviating from the current asylum rules.
According to the proposal on the table of the interior ministers, 30,000 asylum seekers could be resettled in the EU every year.
Countries that do not want to receive asylum seekers could participate in burden sharing in other ways: for example, there has been a separate payment that would target countries that do not participate in the resettlement of asylum seekers.
Finland’s calculated share of the annual internal transfer of 30,000 asylum seekers would be 439 people. The value of one internal transfer has been calculated to be 20,000 euros, which would mean a cost of 8.8 million euros for Finland.
The processing of applications is speeding up
The reform also aims to reform the Dublin Regulation, which regulates the responsibilities of EU countries. The starting point of the regulation is that the country where the asylum seeker arrives first is responsible for processing this application.
The goal of the reform is to speed up the processing of applications and more efficiently return applicants who have received a negative decision to their countries of origin.
According to Commissioner Johansson, the changes are also in the interest of asylum seekers who have received a negative decision.
– It is better that the process is fast, and that they receive information that they have to return.
The final details of the immigration reform will be resolved in the negotiations between the Council representing the member states and the EU Parliament.
Parliament approved its negotiating position on the asylum reform in April. The plan is to approve the reform in its entirety before the EU elections held in a year.
You can discuss the topic on 9.6. until 23:00.