10 RESETTLEMENT OF REFUGEES
FROM THIRD COUNTRIES
(a)
(30894)
12986/09
COM(09) 447
+ ADDs 1-2
(b)
(30893)
12985/09
COM(09) 456
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Commission Communication on the establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme
Commission staff working document: impact assessment of the proposal and summary of the assessment
Draft Decision amending Decision No. 573/07/EC establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008-13 as part of the General programme "Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows" and repealing Council Decision 2004/904/EC
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| Legal base | (a) —
(b) Article 63(2)(b) EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | (Both) 2 September 2009
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| Deposited in Parliament |
(Both) 8 September 2009 |
| Department | Home Office
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| Basis of consideration |
(a) EM of 2 October 2009
(b) EM of 2 October 2009
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| Previous Committee Report |
(Both) None |
| Discussed in Council | (Both) 21 September 2009
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| Committee's assessment | (Both) Politically important
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| Committee's decision | (Both) Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
10.1 Some Member States bear a disproportionately large share
of the cost and effort involved in receiving refugees and stateless
persons, integrating those granted international protection and
repatriating those not granted asylum. In recognition of this,
the Council adopted a Decision in 2000 to set up the European
Refugee Fund to provide financial support to Member States for
the cost of, for example, accommodation, medical care and subsistence.[39]
10.2 The first phase of the Fund ran from 2000 to
the end of 2004 and the second from 2005 to the end of 2007. By
a Decision of May 2007, the Council established the Fund for its
third phase, running from 2008 to the end of 2013 and with a total
budget for that period of €628 million.[40]
The Decision authorises the use of up to 10% of the Fund for the
payment of grants to Member States towards the cost of, among
other things, the resettlement in their areas of third-country
nationals who have been granted refugee status (or its equivalent)
and who are temporarily resident in another third country ("the
first country of asylum"). In particular, Article 13(3) provides
for Member States to receive a grant of €4000 for each resettled
person who falls into one of the following four categories:
- people from a region or country
covered by a Regional Protection Programme;
- unaccompanied minors;
- children and women at risk, particularly from
psychological, physical or sexual violence or exploitation; and
- people with serious medical needs that can only
be addressed through resettlement.
Legal background
10.3 Title IV of the EC Treaty (Articles 61 to 69)
contains provisions on visas, asylum, immigration and other policies
related to the free movement of people within the Community. Under
the fourth Protocol to the Treaty, the UK is not bound by measures
adopted under Title IV unless the Government expressly opts into
them.
10.4 Article 63(2)(b) of the EC Treaty authorises
the Council to adopt measures to promote a balance of effort between
Member States in receiving, and bearing the consequences of receiving,
refugees and displaced persons.
Document (a) — the Commission Communication
10.5 The Commission says that the proposals in the
Communication are consistent with the European Pact on Immigration
and Asylum which was adopted by the European Council on 16 October
2008.[41] The Communication
is concerned only with the resettlement in the EU of third country
nationals granted refugee status outside the EU; it does not discuss
the subsequent resettlement elsewhere in the EU of refugees granted
asylum by a Member State. Resettlement is one of the three "durable
solutions" for people placed under the protection of the
UNHCR in a third country (the others are return to the country
of origin or integration into the first country of asylum).
10.6 The Commission says that there are shortcomings
in the present situation:
- The number of people world-wide
who need resettlement greatly exceeds the resettlement places
available for them.
- Only ten Member States have annual resettlement
programmes.[42] The number
of refugees resettled in the EU contrasts markedly with the numbers
taken in by other industrialised countries (for example, the number
resettled in Canada — about 10,000 a year — is more
than double the number resettled in the whole of the EU).
- There are no formal arrangements for the exchange
of information between Member States about their resettlement
plans or for the coordination of their activities.
- The absence of joint activity and practical cooperation
between Member States increases the cost of resettlement and adversely
affects the EU's influence with third countries and international
organisations.
- Under the 2007 Decision establishing the European
Refugee Fund for 2008-13, Member States receive a grant of €4000
payment for each resettled person who falls within one or more
of four specified categories (see paragraph 10.2 above). From
time to time, there may be other categories of people who are
at least in equal need of resettlement. But the terms of Article
13 of the Decision are not sufficiently flexible to enable changing
needs and priorities to be reflected in the grants to Member States.
10.7 To remedy these shortcomings, the Commission
proposes a joint EU resettlement programme based on the following
guiding principles:
- Member States' participation
in resettlement should remain voluntary;
- resettlement activity in the EU should be increased
by improving Member States' understanding and experience of resettlement
and their capacity to resettle refugees from third countries;
- the programme should be adaptable to changing
circumstances and priorities; and
- the UNHCR and other expert bodies, such as the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and NGOs, should
be involved in the joint programme.
10.8 The main components of the joint programme would
be as follows:
- Each year, a Resettlement Expert
Group would draft common EU priorities for resettlement. The draft
would be based on forecasts of resettlement needs provided by
the UNHCR and on humanitarian and political considerations identified
by Member States and the Commission. All Member States, including
those without their own resettlement programmes, would be members
of the Group; the UNHCR, IOM and NGOs with relevant knowledge
would take part in the Group.
- The common priorities would be formally set out
in an annual Decision by the Commission. The priorities might
relate to named regions or nationalities or categories of refugees
and could change from year to year.[43]
- The European Refugee Fund Decision of 2007 would
be amended so that Member States which resettle refugees in accordance
with the priorities for the year could receive grants; eligibility
would not tied to the present four categories listed in Article
13(3) (see paragraph 10.2 above).
- The European Asylum Support Office (if the Regulation
to establish it is adopted) would coordinate the exchange of information
about resettlement and facilitate practical cooperation between
Member States.
- There would be close cooperation between Member
States, the Commission and the UNHCR.
10.9 The Commission proposes that it should make
an annual report to the Council and the European Parliament about
resettlement efforts in the EU and their effects. There would
be a mid-term evaluation of the joint resettlement programme in
2012 and a further evaluation in 2014.
10.10 Accompanying the Communication is a Commission
staff working paper (ADD 1) which provides detailed supporting
information about the Commission's proposals and an assessment
of their impact.
The Government's view on document (a)
10.11 In his Explanatory Memorandum on the Communication,
the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration at the Home
Office (Mr Phil Woolas) tells us that the Government broadly agrees
with the Commission's proposal for the establishment of a joint
EU resettlement programme. It welcomes the Commission's preference
for Member States' participation in the programme to be voluntary
and for each Member State to decide for itself how many resettlement
places to offer and to select which refugees to accept. The Government
considers that the involvement of the UNHCR in the joint EU programme
would be vital because its mandate is to provide world-wide protection
for refugees and it is best placed to advise on priority groups.
10.12 The Government broadly supports the proposal
for the setting of annual priorities for the categories of refugees
to be resettled. But the Government is concerned that this might
"lead to EU Member States shifting their
focus away from smaller or forgotten populations. The UK may not
wish to allocate all places to the proposed joint scheme and would
retain the ability to follow national priorities … ."[44]
10.13 The Minister notes that the Commission staff
working documents (ADDs 1 and 2) include estimates of the effect
the proposed joint programme would have on the number of refugees
who would be resettled in the EU and on the cost of resettlement.
He says that it is unclear how the Commission arrived at the figures
and the Government will ask for clarification of them.
10.14 ADD 1 also suggests that the joint resettlement
programme would result in an increase of about 25% in the amount
that Member States would receive from the Fund in grants towards
the cost of resettlement. The Minister comments that, since the
Commission is not proposing an increase in the Fund's total budget,
it appears that the increase in grants towards resettlement costs
would be matched by corresponding reductions in payments from
the Fund for other asylum activities.
10.15 Finally, the Minister tells us that the Justice
and Home Affairs Council had a first exchange of views on document
(a) at its meeting on 21 September and that a Working Group of
officials from the Member States will discuss the proposed changes
to the European Refugee Fund later this month.
Document (b) — the draft Decision
10.16 The Commission proposes this draft Decision
to amend the 2007 Decision setting up the European Refugee Fund
for 2008-13 so as to give effect to some of the key proposals
in document (a). The main amendments are as follows:
- the Commission would have a
new duty to adopt a Decision once a year establishing, for the
next calendar year, common EU priorities for the resettlement
of third country nationals who have refugee status and are temporarily
living in a third country other than their country of origin;
- Member States would be entitled to a payment
of €4000 for each refugee they resettle and who fall within
the categories defined in the common annual priorities;
- the payments would no longer be restricted to
the resettlement of refugees falling within the four categories
currently specified in Article 13(3) of the 2007 Decision;
- in preparing its Decision on the common annual
priorities, the Commission would be assisted by a committee comprised
of representatives of the Member States, chaired by a representative
of the Commission;
- within 20 days of the Commission's adoption of
the Decision on priorities for the next calendar year, every Member
State would be required to provide the Commission with an estimate
of the number of people it will resettle in the next calendar
year;
- by 1 September each year, the Commission would
provide Member States with an estimate of the payments to be made
to them in the next calendar year (at present the estimate has
to be given by 1 July);
- by 1 December each year, Member States would
be required to provide the Commission with a draft of their national
resettlement programme for the next year (at present, Member States
have to provide the drafts by 1 November);
- the Commission, would be required to tell Member
States by 1 April each year (rather than 1 March, as now) the
actual payments they will receive for resettlements in that calendar
year.
The Government's view on document (b)
10.17 In his Explanatory Memorandum on the draft
Decision, the Minister says that the proposed amendments to the
2007 Decision are acceptable. The Government has not yet decided
whether to opt in to the draft Decision, but its initial view
is that it should do so. In negotiation, the Government will try
to ensure that the common annual EU priorities for resettlement
do not restrict, but rather extend, Member States' scope to pledge
resettlements.
Conclusion
10.18 We are grateful to the Minister for his
helpful Explanatory Memoranda on the Commission's Communication
and the draft decision. We do not doubt the potential benefits
of greater practical cooperation between Member States in planning
for and implementing the resettlement of refuges from third countries.
Moreover, so long as participation remains entirely at the discretion
of each Member State, we can see the advantages of developing
a joint EU resettlement programme along the lines the Commission
proposes. We recognise that the needs for resettlement change
from time to time and so, in principle, we see no objection to
the amendments proposed in the draft Decision to establish common
annual EU priorities.
10.19 We note that the Government will be seeking
clarification of the estimates in the Commission staff working
document about the effects of the proposals on the number of resettlements
and the annual total of the payments to Member States. We should
be grateful if the Minister would tell us the Commission's response.
We also ask him to provide us with progress reports on the negotiations
and to tell us the Government's decision whether to opt in to
the draft Decision. Pending his replies, we shall keep documents
(a) and (b) under scrutiny.
39 Decision No. 596/2000/EC: OJ No. L 252, 6.10.00,
p.12. Back
40
Decision No. 573/2007/EC : OJ No. L 144, 6.6.07, p.1. Back
41
(29937) 12626/08, page 12. Back
42
The UK is one of them. Its programme for 2008 included resettlement
places for up to 880 individuals. Back
43
For example, an annual Decision might give priority to the resettlement
of Iraqi refugees from Syria and Jordan or Somali refugees from
Kenya. Back
44
Minister's Explanatory Memorandum, paragraph 14. Back
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