Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Asylum Support Office and a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 by removing funding for certain Community actions and altering the limit for funding such actions
Date: 2010-03-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU visa policy, European Union Agency for Asylum, admission of aliens, aid to refugees, fund (EU), operation of the Institutions

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 5.3.2010 
COM(2010)79 final 

2009/0027 (COD) 
2009/0026 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  

concerning the position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a proposal 
for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European 
Asylum Support Office and a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of 
the Council amending Decision 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 
2013 by removing funding for certain Community actions and altering the limit for 
funding such actions 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
2009/0027 (COD) 
2009/0026 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  

concerning the position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a proposal 
for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European 
Asylum Support Office and a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of 
the Council amending Decision 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 
2013 by removing funding for certain Community actions and altering the limit for 
funding such actions 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission to the European Parliament and to the Council 
of the proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Asylum 
Support Office [(COM(2009) 66 final - 2009/0027(COD)]: 

19 February 2009 

Date of transmission to the European Parliament and to the Council 
of the proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the 
Council amending Decision 573/2007/EC establishing the European 
Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 by removing funding for 
certain Community actions and altering the limit for funding such 
actions [COM(2009)67 - 2009/0026(COD)]: 

18 February 2009 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

Not applicable 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

7 May 2009 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

Not applicable 

Date of adoption of the Council's position: 

25 February 2010 

2. 

PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The  proposal  for  a  Regulation  establishing  the  European  Asylum  Support  Office  and  the 
proposal  to  amend  the  Decision  establishing  the  ERF  2008-2013  are  part  of  the  European 
Union's efforts to develop a comprehensive asylum policy. They are a response to the requests 
from  the  Council  and  the  European  Council  for  the  creation  of  an  asylum  support  structure 
and  form  part  of  the  measures  announced  by  the  Policy  Plan  on  Asylum  adopted  by  the 
Commission in June 2008. The Commission proposes to set up a European Asylum Support 
Office which will be responsible for promoting and enhancing practical cooperation between 
Member  States  on  asylum  matters  and  for  helping  to  support  the  implementation  of  the 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
common asylum system. The Office's institutional status will be that of a regulatory agency 
and  it  will  be  a  body  set  up  as  provided  for  in  Article  185  of  the  Financial  Regulation.  Its 
funding  will  come  from  a  heading  in  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union.  In  the 
interests of simplifying the use of available funds, and because the European Asylum Support 
Office will be responsible for some of the tasks currently funded under the ERF, the proposal 
for a Decision transfers some of the budgetary resources currently allocated to the ERF to the 
Office, in order to ensure the optimal financing of practical cooperation on asylum matters. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COUNCIL’S POSITION 

3.1 

General Comment on the Council's Position 

The  substance  of  the  Council's  Position  is,  broadly  in  line  with  the  Commission's  proposals 
and can therefore be supported fully.  

3.2 

Agreement at the stage of the Council's position  

The Council's position is the result of intensive inter-institutional negotiations, following the 
Commission's proposal of 18 February 2009 and the adoption by the European Parliament of 
its  opinion  at  first  reading  6  May  2009.  Informal  and  technical  meetings  have  resulted  in 
compromise  on  a  number  of  outstanding  issues.  Neither  the  European  Parliament  nor  the 
Council amended the proposal for a Decision on the funding of the Office.  

Following these negotiations, Coreper reached agreement on the text on 11 November 2009. 
On  16  November  2009  the  Chairman  of  the  LIBE  Committee,  Mr  Juan  Fernando  López 
Aguilar, sent a letter to the Presidency  confirming the agreement of the  rapporteurs and the 
rapporteurs  for  opinion  on  the  text  approved  by  Coreper  and  on  the  Interinstitutional 
statement  annexed  to  it,  and  stating  that  if  these  texts  were  formally  transmitted  to  the 
European Parliament as the Council's position, he would recommend that the Members of the 
LIBE  committee  and  subsequently  the  plenary  session  accept  them  without  amendments. 
Coreper reached a political agreement on this basis on 20 November 2009.  

The main points which were negotiated and agreed upon are set out below. 

The  solidarity  mechanisms  supported  by  the  Office  (relocation  and  resettlement)  were  the 
subject of a compromise based on neutral wording to allow the Office to support all present or 
future mechanisms effectively.  

A  compromise  was  reached  regarding  the  appointment  of  the  Executive  Director  of  the 
Office, by which Parliament was accorded a significant role in the appointment by allowing it 
to  adopt  an  opinion  after  hearing  the  candidate  designated  by  the  Management  Board  and 
requiring the Management Board to inform Parliament of the manner in which its opinion was 
taken into account in the definitive appointment of the Executive Director. Parliament wanted 
this  across-the-board  provision  on  institutional  status  to  be  fully  in  line  with  the  work 
currently  under  way  in  the  Interinstitutional  Working  Group  on  Regulatory  Agencies.  The 
following interinstitutional statement was consequently adopted:  

"The  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  set  up  an  Inter-institutional 
Working  Group  to  assess  the  coherence,  effectiveness,  accountability  and  transparency  of 
Regulatory Agencies, and to find common ground on how to improve their work.The Working 
Group  is  currently  focusing  on  a  number  of  key  areas  such  as  the  role  and  position  of 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
Regulatory  Agencies  in  the  EU's  institutional  landscape,  their  creation,  structure  and 
operation, and issues related to their funding, budgetary, supervision and management. 

The formula agreed for the nomination of the Director of the future European Asylum Support 
Office  (Article  28  of  the  basic  regulation),  providing  that  the  European  Parliament  "may 
adopt  an  opinion  setting  out  its  view  of  the  selected  candidate  and  the  Management  Board 
shall inform the EP of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account" should be 
seen  in  the  context  of  the  inter-institutional  efforts  to  improve  the  governance  and 
accountability of agencies."  

The  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  have  reached  an  agreement  which  allows  the 
United  Nations  High  Commission  for  Refugees  (UNHCR)  to  participate  in  the  work  and  to 
allow the Office to benefit fully from UNHCR's expertise in the course of its future work.  

At Parliament's request, a compromise was found to associate civil society fully with the work 
of  the  Office  by  means  of  a  Consultative  Forum,  the  operational  rules  for  which  were  laid 
down.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Council's position and the interinstitutional statement annexed to it meet the aims of the 
Commission's initial proposal. The Commission therefore supports the text. 

EN 

4 

   EN