WRITTEN QUESTION P-2089/99

by Marco Cappato (TDI) to the Commission

(8 November 1999)

Subject: Right of asylum for EU nationals in other Member States or in third countries

Following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, asylum policy was incorporated into the EC Treaty under Title IV (Visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to the free movement of persons).

The Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union which has been attached to the EC Treaty states that the Council shall be immediately informed if a Member State should decide to grant asylum to a citizen of another EU Member State, thus confirming the central role played by the Council in the exchange of information on asylum and immigration matters between the Member States.

As a result of the above developments, EU citizens may, as a general rule, be granted asylum by third countries, but not by EU Member States, which means that the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees no longer fully apply.

Have there been cases in which citizens from one EU Member State have been granted asylum by another Member State or a non-Community country, either before or after the entry into force of the EU Treaty and the Protocol on asylum? If so, on what grounds?

Would the Commission not agree that a study should be conducted as a matter of urgency to identify and remove the causes behind applications for asylum being made to third countries, with a view to offsetting the restrictions placed on the right of European citizens to seek asylum in another Member State?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(30 November 1999)

The protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union requires a Member State to inform the Council if it decides unilaterally to consider an asylum application from a national of another Member State. The protocol does not require a Member State to inform the Council if it decides to grant asylum to a national of another Member State. Although the Commission did not advocate the inclusion of the protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union in the Treaty of Amsterdam, it notes that the preamble to the protocol states that it respects the finality and objectives of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the status of refugees. In addition, declaration No 48 to the Treaty of Amsterdam states that The Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union does not prejudice the right of each Member State to take the organisational measures it deems necessary to fulfil its obligations under the Geneva Convention on 28 July 1951 relating to the status of refugees. Nothing in the protocol would prevent a Member State from granting asylum to a national of another Member State if that person was a refugee within the meaning of Article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees.

The number of cases in which nationals of one Member State have applied for asylum in another Member State is relatively low.

In relation to applications for asylum submitted by a national of one Member State in another Member State, for 1992 to 1994 (for 12 Member States), the following corrected data (see the answer to written question E-1356/97 by Mrs van Dijk(1)) is available:

- 1992: four applications (two in Belgium, of which one was from a German national and one was from a French national; one in Denmark from a UK national; one in Greece from a German national).

- 1993: twelve applications (six in Belgium, of which two were from Spanish nationals, three were from Portuguese nationals and one was from a UK national; two in Denmark, of which one was from a German national and one was from a French national; three in Spain from French nationals; one in Portugal from a German national).

- 1994: nine applications (five in Denmark, of which two were from German nationals, two were from French nationals and one was from an Irish national; four in Spain, of which one was from a German national, one was from a French national, one was from an Italian national and one was from a Dutch national).

Since enlargement of the Union in 1995, the following data relating to the 15 Member States is available:

- 1995: seven applications (five in Denmark, of which four were from German nationals and one was from an Italian national; one in Spain from an Italian national; one in Finland from a Dutch national).

- 1996: thirteen applications (five in Belgium, of which one was from a German national, two were from Spanish nationals, one was from a Dutch national and one was from a UK national; three in Denmark, of which one from a German national, one was from a Swedish national, and one was from a UK national; one in Spain from an Italian national; two in Austria, of which one was from a Danish national and one was from a German national; one in Portugal from a Spanish national; one in Finland from a French national).

- 1997: twenty-seven applications (two in Belgium from Portuguese nationals; five in Denmark, of which one from a German national, one was from a Greek national, one was from an Italian national, one was from a Swedish national, and one was from a UK national; seven in Germany, of which two were from Greek nationals, one was from a Spanish national, one was from a Dutch national, one was from a Portuguese national, one was from a Swedish national, and one was from a UK national; three in Spain, of which one was from a Greek national, one was from an Italian national, and one was from a Dutch national; ten in Sweden, of which two were from Danish nationals, four were from German nationals, one was from a Spanish national, one was from an Italian national, and two were from UK nationals).

Data for 1998 and 1999 are not yet available. The information available does not indicate the grounds on which asylum was requested.

As regards applications for asylum by nationals of Member States in European economic area (EEA) countries (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, the data available to the Commission for the period from 1995 to 1997 only indicates applications made in Switzerland in 1997 (19 applications, of which one was from a Belgian national, eleven were from German nationals, one was from a Greek national, one was from a French national, three were from Italian nationals, one was from a Dutch national, and one was from a UK national).

The Commission understands that in the six months following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, there have been no cases in which a Member State has notified the Council pursuant to point (d) of the sole article of the Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States that it is has decided unilaterally to examine an application for asylum which has been submitted to it by a national of another Member State.

The Commission is aware of two cases in which the national of one Member State has been recognised as a refugee in another Member State: in 1991 an Italian national was recognised as a refugee in the Netherlands and in 1997 a German national was recognised as a refugee in Portugal. The information available does not indicate the grounds on which the persons concerned were recognised as refugees.

The Commission is not aware of any cases in which nationals of Member States have been recognised as refugees in EEA countries or in Switzerland in the period from 1995 to 1997 for which data is available.

As regards applications for asylum by nationals of Member States in non-Community countries and grants of asylum in such cases, with the exception of the data relating to EEA countries and Switzerland mentioned above, the Commission does not compile data on such cases.

The Commission has no plans to undertake a study on the reasons why some nationals of Member States may have lodged asylum applications in third countries.

(1) OJ C 373, 9.12.1997.