WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3441/97 by Nel van DIJK to the Commission. The 'Aznar protocol'
Date: 1997-10-31
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN DIJK
Subjects: Belgium, EU Member State, EU national, EU statistics, Eurostat, UNHCR, right of asylum, statistical method

C 174/58

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

8. 6. 98

(98/C 174/98)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3441/97

by Nel van Dijk (V) to the Commission

(31 October 1997)

Subject: The (cid:145)Aznar protocol(cid:146)

Does  the  Commission  have  an  explanation  for  the  discrepancy  between  the  figures  provided  by  it (1)  on  the
number of requests for asylum by subjects of EU Member States in other Member States and the figures available
to the UNHCR (2)?

Can the Commission, after consultation with the UNHCR, provide the correct statistics?

Which  Member  States,  in  addition  to  Belgium (3),  the  Netherlands (4)  and  Sweden (5),  have  now  stated  that,
despite the (cid:145)Aznar protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam, they will give consideration to any request for asylum
from a subject of another Member State?

Is the Commission prepared to urge the other Member States to do the same so as to limit the damage caused by
the (cid:145)Aznar protocol(cid:146) to compliance with the Refugees Convention?

(1)  Answer by Commissioner Gradin to my Written Question E-1356/97 › OJ C 373, 9.12.1997, p. 110.
(2)  UNHCR, (cid:145)EU nationals seeking asylum in EU Member States: some statistical evidence, 1985-1995(cid:146).
(3)  Declaration by Belgium to the protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union.
(4)  Answer by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice to Written Questions by the Member of Parliament Rosenmo¤ller (GroenLinks),

Second Chamber, Questions, 26 September 1997.
(5)  Migration News Sheet, No. 173, August 1997, p. 13.

Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 1997)

The figures given in the Commission(cid:146)s reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s written question E-1356/97 (1) were
provided  drawing  on  statistics  from  Member  States  themselves  on  the  basis  of  asylum  requests  lodged  and
registered  there.  Statistics  are  collected  by  the  Office  of  the  United  Nations  high  commissioner  for  refugees
(UNHCR) local offices on a case by case basis whereas Eurostat depends on contributions by the Member State
in  question.  The  Commission  is  aware  that  figures  from  UNHCR  are  often  higher  than  those  provided  by
Member  States,  presumably  reflecting  a  different  collection  basis  and  methodology.  The  Commission  is
therefore  examining  how  collection  methods  might  be  improved  to  avoid  the  statistical  discrepancies  in  the
future.

The Commission is not aware of any Member State other than Belgium having made a formal declaration of its
intention  to  examine  each  request  for  asylum  by  nationals  of  Member  States.  The  Commission  does  not,
however, interpret the absence of such declarations to mean that Member States do not intend to honour their
obligations in relation to the 1951 Geneva Convention. On the contrary, the Commission made clear in its answer
to  the  oral  question  H-600/97  by  Mr  Sjo¤stedt  during  question  time  at  Parliament(cid:146)s  September  1997
part-session (2) that, although it considered it unfortunate that this protocol had been included in the Amsterdam
Treaty, it was pleased to note that the preamble of the protocol clearly stated that it respected the finality and
objectives of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees (3).

(1)  OJ C 373, 9.12.1997, p. 110. 
(2)  Debates of the Parliament (September 1997).
(3)  European Parliament, Verbatim report of proceedings, 16.9.1997, page 69.

(98/C 174/99)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3448/97

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE), Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE)
and Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos (PPE) to the Commission

(31 October 1997)

Subject: Revision of the Greek Community Support Framework

The Greek Government recently called for the revision of the Greek Community Support Framework 1994-1999
(CSF) and in particular the transfer of appropriations from sectors in which implementation has been very slow to