14 Procedures for granting and withdrawing
refugee status
| (a)
(25459)
7184/04
—
(b)
(25565)
8413/04
—
|
Draft Council Directive on minimum standards for procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status
Draft Council Directive on minimum standards for procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status
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| Legal base | Article 63(1)(d) EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Document originated | (a)15 March 2004
(b)21 April 2004
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| Deposited in Parliament | (a)18 March 2004
(b)26 April 2004
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| Department | Home Office |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 26 March 2004 and Minister's letter of 21 April 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | None; but see (25048) 14686/03: HC 42-iii (2003-04), para 1 (17 December 2004)
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| To be discussed in Council | 29 April 2004
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | (Both) Cleared
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Background
14.1 Article 63(1) of the EC Treaty requires the Council, within
five years of the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam
(that is, by May 2004), to adopt measures on, among other things,
minimum standards for procedures for granting and withdrawing
refugee status.
14.2 The draft Directive has been under discussion
since 2000. When we considered the then current draft on 17 December
2003, we recommended it for debate in Standing Committee B. We
did so because some of the provisions of the draft did not establish
common minimum standards but rather allowed Member States discretion
to set their own procedures. We recognised that departures from
common minimum standards had been made with the aim of achieving
unanimous agreement to an overall package of measures and that
Member States wished to preserve specific features of their own
national procedures. We raised the question whether the resultant
compromise of the principle of common minimum standards was acceptable.
14.3 Moreover, the draft included provisions on first
countries of asylum, safe third countries, safe countries of origin
and border procedures. It seemed to us that, particularly in
the light of concerns expressed by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), these provisions raised questions of wide
political importance.
14.4 Standing Committee B debated the draft on 5
February 2004.
The documents
14.5 Documents (a) and (b) are revised drafts of
the Directive. Document (b), the most recent draft, supersedes
document (a).
14.6 Document (b) has six Chapters:
- Chapter I — general provisions
(purpose; definitions; scope; responsible authorities; and power
for Member States to introduce or maintain procedures more favourable
to applicants than those contained in the Directive).
- Chapter II — basic principles and guarantees
(access to the procedures; right to remain in the Member State
pending the examination of the asylum application; requirements
for the examination of applications; guarantees for applicants;
personal interviews with applicants; legal assistance and representation;
guarantees for unaccompanied minors; detention; procedure for
withdrawal or abandonment of an application; the role of the UNHCR;
and prohibition of disclosure of information to the alleged persecutor
of an applicant).
- Chapter III — procedures at first instance
(procedure for examination of applications, including provision
for accelerated or prioritised examination; inadmissible applications;
application of the concepts of first country of asylum and safe
third countries; unfounded applications; safe countries of origin;
subsequent applications; and procedures for dealing with applications
made at the border).
- Chapter IV — procedures for withdrawal
of refugee status.
- Chapter V — appeals procedures.
- Chapter VI — general and final provisions
(including provisions on confidentiality; and transposition of
the Directive into national law).
14.7 Since we considered the proposal in December,
a number of amendments have been made to clarify the text or to
take account of comments by the UNHCR and the particular concerns
of some Member States. These amendments do not, however, significantly
alter the substance of the Directive.
The Government's view
14.8 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at
the Home Office (Caroline Flint) tells us that the Government
will be seeking clarification of the effect of one of the amendments
but either accepts or welcomes the others.
Conclusion
14.9 Our concerns about this proposal arose because
the draft Directive did not establish common minimum standards
for all procedures and because of the provisions about safe countries
of origin and safe third countries. Those concerns were debated
by the Standing Committee on 5 February. The amendments incorporated
in document (b) do not, in our view, significantly affect the
substance of the provisions that caused us concern and we do not,
therefore, consider it appropriate to reopen the debate. Accordingly,
we have decided to clear document (b) from scrutiny. We also
clear document (a), which has been superseded by the latest draft
of the Directive.
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