Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community immigration policy, andthe Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: Towards a common asylum procedure and a uniform status, valid throughout the Union, for persons granted asylum
Date: 2002-01-22
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: approximation of laws, immigration, integration of migrants, right of asylum

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a

Community immigration policy’, and

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament:
Towards a common asylum procedure and a uniform status, valid throughout the Union, for
persons granted asylum’

(2002/C 19/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
on a Community immigration policy (COM(2000) 757 final);

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament:
Towards a common asylum procedure and a uniform status, valid throughout the Union, for persons
granted asylum (COM(2000) 755 final);

having regard to the Decision taken by the European Commission on 1 February 2001 to ask the
Committee of the Regions for an Opinion on this matter under Article 265, 1st paragraph of the EC
Treaty;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 13 June 2000, to draw up an Opinion on this matter
and to instruct Commission 7 for Education, Vocational Training, Culture, Youth, Sport and Citizens’
Rights to undertake the preparatory work;

having regard to Articles 61-63 of the Amsterdam Treaty;

having regard to the conclusions of the Tampere European Council of October 1999;

having regard to the ‘scoreboard’ to review progress on the creation of an area of freedom, security and
justice in the European Union (COM(2000) 782 final);

having regard to the Opinion by the CoR on Migratory flows in Europe (CdR 227/1999 fin) (1);

having regard to the draft Opinion (CdR 90/2001 rev. 2) adopted by Commission 7 on 29 June 2001
[rapporteur: Mr Theodoros Georgakis (EL/PSE)],

adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 40th plenary session on 19-20 September 2001
(meeting of 20 September).

1. The Committee of the Region’s views and recommen-
dations on the proposal on immigration policy

The Committee of the Regions:

emphasises the completely different nature of

1.1.
the
problems of economic migrants and of refugees who come
within the scope of the Geneva Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees. However, these two questions are closely
linked. At all events, a Community policy must have common
objectives in the areas of migration and asylum. Nonetheless,
conflicts may arise between the two aspects of the policy, and
efforts must therefore be made to avoid such an eventuality;

1.2.
welcomes the Commission Communication as a start-
ing point for establishing a dialogue with a view to creating a
uniform European immigration policy. In addition to the
humanistic ideas which are accepted in the societies of the EU
and lead to feelings of solidarity and open-door policies, the
demographic and consequently labour-and pension-related
problem of the ageing population of the EU renders inevitable
the need to apply a common immigration policy. The CoR
endorses the Commission’s proposal for the creation of a
minimum common legal framework which would lay down
the conditions for the admission of third country nationals
and their residence in the EU. At the same time, however, it
stresses the need to combat illegal immigration by drawing up
special programmes both to support the countries of origin
and to guard the external frontiers of the EU;

(1) OJ C 57, 29.2.2000, p. 67.

1.3.
agrees with the Commission’s position on the need for
integration of third country nationals at national, regional and

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local levels. However, it stresses the undeniable need for local
societies to participate in this two-way process. For local
societies to succeed in this process a distribution of costs
between national, regional and local level should be allocated
in relation to the participation involved in the whole procedure
respectively. Moreover, this is absolutely essential to ensure
acceptance of these people by the societies concerned. The
success of this policy will help not only to maximise the general
contribution of the migrant to the economic development of
the region, but also to minimise crime, xenophobia and racism;
one could then describe the immigration policy as successful;

1.9.
endorses the Commission’s aim of stamping out racism
and xenophobia. The CoR can play a decisive role to this end,
given that any such efforts must proceed from local society
level;

thinks it necessary for the CoR’s opinion to be sought
1.10.
in each case so as to draw the EU’s attention to the potential
problems and the best practice, in order to guarantee basic
rights to immigrants, taking account of the fact that local and
regional authorities play a decisive role in these matters;

supports the Commission’s position on the principal
1.4.
of granting basic rights to third country nationals. Basic respect
for human rights would demand no less. However, on this
point the CoR thinks that its own role is particularly important,
since in the final analysis the local authorities are those which
are responsible for guaranteeing such rights to immigrants and
ensuring their smooth integration into local society;

thinks it essential to extend this Committee policy to
1.11.
the sensitive sector of the mass media. Observance by these
media of a minimum ethical code prohibiting the incitement
of xenophobic behaviour ought to be an objective of a uniform
Community policy.

1.5.
agrees with the need to create partnership relations
with the countries of origin and transit, and to take measures
to stamp out the trafficking and smuggling of human beings;

2. The Committee of the Region’s views and recommen-
dations on the proposal on a common asylum pro-
cedure

1.6.
takes the view that beyond the creation of a common
legal framework for admission and residence, an important
aspect of the formulation of a common immigration policy is
access to information on the needs of the European labour
market for skilled or non-industrial manpower;

1.7.
is convinced that specific planning to flesh out a
national framework plan should be formulated and implement-
ed at local and regional level in order to ensure the realisation
of social integration. In this way account can be taken of the
specific features and priorities of the local community in the
interests of the effective economic and social implementation
of
the economic and social
cohesion of each local community is not disturbed;

immigration policy, so that

The Committee of the Regions:

2.1.
recognises that both immigration and a policy on
asylum and subsidiary forms of international protection (such
as humanitarian status), but also using additional forms of
protection (such as temporary protection), are indissolubly
linked with local society in the host countries and have a direct
impact at local and regional levels. Moreover, in the process of
drafting legal acts the CoR’s opinion must be regularly
requested so that it can draw the EU’s attention to potential
problems and best practice;

2.2.
regards it as essential to draw a practical distinction
between asylum seekers and refugees on the one hand and
economic migrants on the other. To this end it is necessary
to establish fair and effective asylum
first and foremost
procedures in all the Member States on the basis of a common
denominator of harmonisation;

1.8.
emphasises the need to grant full basic rights to third
country nationals who have entered the Member States without
having followed the planned procedure. This would be a way
of eliminating phenomena such as exploitation, bad treatment
and provocative discrimination, which are unacceptable in
European society;

2.3.
believes it necessary to define as soon as possible at
Community level the concept of ‘subsidiary forms of protec-
tion’ since up to now there have been important divergences
in the theory and practice of the Member States, acting as an
obstacle to uniform arrangements;

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2.4.
is in favour of a uniform asylum procedure, which will
reach, through fair and effective practices, correct and reasoned
decisions in a short period of time;

2.5.
takes the view that shortening the timescale for
procedures and issuing fair decisions which do not allow any
margin for doubt will have a favourable effect on local and
regional authorities which in many cases have to shoulder the
burden of receiving large groups of asylum-seekers;

endorses the European Commission’s aim of estab-
2.6.
lishing in the short term a minimum level of harmonisation of
the rules on asylum procedures, with the prospect in the
longer term of creating a common European system with
mutual recognition of the decisions taken and, in parallel,
the mechanism for determining
simplified application of
responsibility on the part of Member States;

2.7.
expresses the view that the discussion of a common
procedure using the ‘one stop shop’ system, under which all
protection needs will be examined by the same authority (a
view supported also by the UNHCR) appears to be premature.
It is necessary in principle to determine which are the possible
forms of protection apart from the Geneva Convention and to
examine various related problems (e.g. refugee procedure,
evacuation, etc.);

stresses that the measures to prevent access must not
2.8.
influence the asylum procedure and must be applied with
complete respect for the right of asylum. At all events, the
right of asylum necessarily presupposes the physical presence
of the asylum seeker on the territory or at the frontier of the
Member State concerned in order to submit the relevant
request. Consequently it is not possible to accept a request
submitted in the country of origin, nor to facilitate the arrival
of refugees through resettlement mechanisms;

2.9.
thinks it necessary for the common asylum procedure
to be supplemented with a uniform system for admission of
asylum seekers: this would help to reduce the secondary
migration within the EU;

depending on the needs and special characteristics of each
region;

2.11.
is in favour of a policy of encouraging return with an
emphasis on voluntary repatriation in the context of an
effective and reliable asylum procedure. To this end there must
also be support for relevant programmes of repatriation or
resettlement, but also for corresponding integration pro-
grammes for those who are eventually accepted and for
whom international protection is provided. At the same time
unsuccessful applicants for asylum who are not legally entitled
to remain in a country should be forcibly repatriated if they
refuse to leave voluntarily;

2.12.
recognises that the integration of refugees and of
other persons who come under international protection in
local communities in the Member States presupposes a full
guarantee of their personal and social rights — in particular
their rights to health, education and work. To that end,
Community rules on these matters must be detailed and must
not allow divergences among the Member States;

2.13.
supports cooperation between the local and regional
authorities of each state with a view to creating a network of
job opportunities in each region, as a way of tackling the
problem of the shortage of skilled and unskilled workers
currently faced by the EU. This will of course be done in
cooperation with the relevant national central authority, with
no additional costs, using the existing administrative structures;

2.14.
endorses the idea of improving refugees’ specialised
skills, thereby increasing the possibility for their integration
into local society in the context of better distribution of the
workforce;

feels that there should be consideration of the option
2.15.
of granting recognised refugees the right
to freedom of
movement and of establishment on the Community territory;

2.16.
agrees with the Commission’s view that a point of
reference for the rights of those who gain subsidiary or
temporary protection should be the rights granted to third
country nationals who are legally resident in the European
Union;

2.10.
takes the view that admission of asylum seekers to the
Member States requires the creation of appropriate reception
centres where they can stay while their requests are being
examined. These centres must be created and must operate in
close cooperation with the local and regional authorities,

2.17.
finally, agrees that there is a need for access to varied
sources of information, common analyses/assessments and for
the establishment of new cooperation mechanisms between
the national, regional and local authorities of the Member
States.

Brussels, 20 September 2001.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT