Refugees – Photo WFP-Rein Skullerud
(BRUSSELS) – The European Parliament and EU Member States reached a long-sought agreement Wednesday on the final form of five separate EU regulations to revamp the EUs asylum and migration legislation.
The regulations establish how to share management of asylum and migration flows among EU Member States and lay out measures to take in cases of sudden migratory crisis. The rules also regulate how to deal with people arriving at the EU’s external borders, the processing of asylum claims, and the identification of those arriving.
Under the new asylum and migration management regulation, EU countries seen as being in the migration ‘front line’ will receive ‘mandatory solidarity’, which will allow other member states to choose between relocating asylum applicants to their territory and making financial contributions.
When there are sudden increases in arrivals, the ‘crisis and force majeure regulation’ establishes a mechanism to ensure solidarity and measures to support member states facing an exceptional influx of third-country nationals. The rules cover instrumentalisation of migrants, i.e. when migrants are used by third-countries or hostile non-state actors to destabilise the EU, and foresee a possible temporary derogation from the standard asylum procedures.
Under the new screening regulation, people who do not fulfil the conditions to enter the EU will be subject to pre-entry screening including identification, collecting biometric data, health and security checks, for up to seven days. The specific needs of children will be taken into account with each member state having independent monitoring to ensure respect of fundamental rights.
The asylum procedures regulation establishes a common EU procedure to grant and withdraw international protection, replacing several national procedures. Processing asylum claims should be faster -up to six months for a first decision-, with shorter limits for manifestly unfounded or inadmissible claims and at EU borders.
Finally, reform of Eurodac aims to identify those arriving at EU territory more effectively, adding facial images to fingerprints, including for children from six years old. Authorities will be able to record if someone could present a security threat, if the person is violent or unlawfully armed.
