WRITTEN QUESTION P-0479/03

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Council

(17 February 2003)

Subject: Addressing the social and economic consequences for Member States of the heavy pressure of immigration on the basis of the principle of solidarity (Article 63 of the EC Treaty)

Europe has been subjected to heavy pressure from immigration over the last few decades, and there has been a corresponding increase in the number of asylum applications in EU Member States as well as an explosive growth in illegal immigration involving the illegal entry of immigrants from third countries into, and resident in, EU territory. It is estimated that 300 000 illegal immigrants entered Greece in 2002 alone, and there is an obvious danger that the present international tension will create a huge wave of refugees seeking to enter the EU which will have incalculable social and economic consequences.

In view of the fact that the limited measures adopted or proposed at various times, for example Directive 2001/55/EC(1), the service SCIFA+ which has just been set up on immigration, frontiers and asylum, the proposal for the establishment of a European border guard etc., will not be able adequately to tackle the problem of the mass influx of persons into the EU, will the Council say:

- What provision has it made to tackle a mass influx of illegal immigrants or a huge wave of refugees into the territory of an EU Member State and what is the capacity of Member States to receive large waves of immigrants?

- What social and economic cost is a Member State on the periphery of the EU likely to incur due to a mass influx of refugees into its territory and what Community assistance and solidarity mechanisms exist at EU level, based on Article 63, paragraph 2(b) of the EC Treaty or on the Treaties, to deal with the arrival of waves of illegal immigrants in those Member States which serve as the entry points and breakwaters on the periphery of the EU?

- Does it consider that a special fund should be set up, based on the fair distribution of the social and economic burden of addressing such emergencies, for the benefit of those Member States which are subjected to heavy pressure from immigration and what new measures or mechanisms does it consider are indispensable for addressing phenomena of this kind in developing an integrated immigration policy and managing the external frontiers of the EU?

(1) OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12.

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council would refer the Honourable Member to Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (Directive on temporary protection)(1).

The Directive provides that the existence of a mass influx of persons must be established by a Council Decision adopted by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission. The Decision must lay down the date on which the temporary protection will take effect and include, among other things, information received from Member States on their reception capacity. The European Parliament is to be informed of the Council Decision.

In the interests of solidarity, Article 24 of the Directive on temporary protection lays down that the measures provided for in the Directive shall benefit from the European Refugee Fund set up by Council Decision 2000/596/EC of 28 September 2000(2). Article 6 of that Decision provides for emergency funds, separate from the resources allocated to Member States each year by the Fund, to help one or more or all Member States in the event of a sudden mass influx of refugees or displaced persons, or if it is necessary to evacuate them from a third country, in particular in response to an appeal by international organisations. Such emergency funding is based on a Council Decision adopted by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.

As regards the management of the EU's external borders, the Council is awaiting a study by the Commission on burden-sharing between the Member States and the Union which was requested in the Conclusions of the Seville European Council. Secondly, the Council's bodies will also examine this question in the context of the follow-up to Part II of the Commission's Communication to the Council and the European Parliament: Integrating migration issues in the European Union's relations with third countries(3). (Report on the effectiveness of financial resources available at Community level for repatriation of immigrants and rejected asylum seekers, for management of external borders and for asylum and migration projects in third countries).

(1) OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12.

(2) OJ L 252, 6.10.2000, p. 12.

(3) COM(2000) 703 final.