WRITTEN QUESTION No. 715/96 by Michèle LINDEPERG to the Council. Definition of 'refugee' under the Geneva Convention - temporary protection
Date: 1996-03-27
Institutions: European Parliament, LINDEPERG
Subjects: civil defence, common position, competence of the Member States, international human rights law, national law, refugee













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91996E0715

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 715/96 by Michèle LINDEPERG to the Council. Definition of 'refugee' under the Geneva Convention - temporary protection  


Official Journal C 297 , 08/10/1996 P. 0017 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0715/96 by Michèle Lindeperg (PSE) to the Council (27 March 1996)Subject: Definition of 'refugee' under the Geneva Convention - temporary protectionThe Council recently adopted a common position on the definition of 'refugee' within the meaning of Article 1(A) of the Geneva Convention.This position contains a restrictive interpretation of persecution by third parties. It does not afford protection to persons persecuted by non-governmental groups in cases where the public authorities are involuntarily inactive.Does the Council intend to adopt a common means of temporary protection offering such persons a status enabling them both to be protected and to live in decent conditions in the European Union?Reply (16 July 1996)1. The joint position ((OJ L 63, 13 March 1996, p.2 )) to which the Honourable Member refers gives expression to the European Union's wish to harmonize the application in the Member States of the Geneva Convention's criteria for determining refugee status. The 'common denominator' adopted does not, however, mean that more favourable legislation that may exist in some Member States may not continue to apply.The introduction to the joint position states, inter alia, that 'This joint position is adopted within the limits of the constitutional powers of the Governments of the Member States; it shall not bind the legislative authorities or affect decisions of the judicial authorities...'.2. With particular reference to persecution by third parties (paragraph 5.2 of the joint position), it is not true to say that the joint position 'does not afford protection to persons persecuted by non-governmental groups in cases where the public authorities are involuntarily inactive'.In fact, the joint position calls in such cases for 'individual examination of each application... in accordance with national judicial practice'. Should that examination establish that the applicant cannot be considered a refugee within the meaning of the Geneva Convention, he may nevertheless 'be eligible in any event for appropriate forms of protection under national law'. On the latter point, paragraph 1 of the joint position ('Recognition as a refugee') has this to say: 'This document... in no way affects the conditions under which a Member State may, according to its domestic law, permit a person to remain in its territory if his safety or physical integrity would be endangered if he were to return to his country because of cirumstances which are not covered by the Geneva Convention but which constitute a reason for not returning him to his country of origin.'.3. By now, most Member States have developed temporary protection arrangements, which vary widely. Temporary protection is an important concept and the conflict in the former Yugoslavia has shown how useful and wide-ranging it can be. Discussion of the concept at European Union level is part of the Presidency's work programme. However, the debate is only just beginning and it is too soon to say what the outcome will be.