The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the own-initiative report by Rui TAVARES (GUE/NGL, PT) on the establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme welcoming the Commission’s initiative proposing a change to the European Refugee Fund (ERF) in order to incorporate the impact of the EU Resettlement Programme. Members call for a more ambitious programme with the following characteristics:
A real and effective EU Resettlement Programme: overall, Members agree with the the general objectives set out in the Communication on the EU Resettlement Programme as mentioned above and the growing attention devoted to resettlement in the overall EU asylum policy. They call for a more ambitious programme which ensures the quality and effectiveness of the resettlement, containing specific guidelines on a new model of priority-setting, incentives to attract more Member States to resettle refugees, consistency of resettlement with other EU asylum policies and standards of reception conditions and follow-up measures to be taken in each resettlement initiative.
Members recall, however, that a budget line and financial support are not sufficient to establish a real EU-wide resettlement programme. This is why they urge the Member States to promote the creation of private funding mechanisms and more widespread public-private initiatives so as to underpin the European Resettlement Programme.
They consider that under the new financial perspectives (2013–2017) a specific envelope for resettlement should be established. Such an envelope could take the form of a dedicated resettlement fund.
Members welcome the opening of the new Emergency Transit Centre (ETC) in Romania offering temporary accommodation for refugees in urgent need of resettlement and call on the Commission to make use of this structure. They also welcome the ad hoc initiatives taken by a number of Member States in accommodating refugees in urgent need of resettlement while recognising the need for such initiatives to take a more structured form.
Requirements for efficiency and responsiveness of resettlement measures: Members underline that an effective EU Resettlement Programme should provide protection and durable solutions both for long–term, protracted refugee situations and for rapid and adequate responses in case of emergency or unforeseen urgency. In their view, the setting of annual priorities should be such as to enable a prompt reaction to sudden humanitarian crises which might occur throughout the year. Members favour a private-public partnership with NGOs and further social partners such as religious and ethnical organisations. They believe that municipalities already involved, or becoming involved, in resettlement should create partnerships and twinnings with other municipalities in their home country and in the EU Member States in order to exchange their experiences. Members stress the need to:
A permanent Resettlement Unit: Members believe that the absence of mechanisms of cooperation and coordination between Member States raises the costs of the operations related to resettlement, makes them less attractive and reduces their strategic impact. They therefore recommend the creation of a specific unit with proper staff allocated to carry out the necessary coordination between all the ongoing resettlement activities in the Member States and believe that the most appropriate institutional framework for this Resettlement Unit would be within the (European Asylum Support Office).This unit could establish close contact with the UNHCR and local NGOs, in order to obtain important information to forward to the Member States and EU institutions regarding, for instance, urgent priorities, integration techniques, etc. It could play an important role in the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of the Resettlement Programme at EU level.
Flexible priority-setting: as suggested in the Tavares report on the proposal for a decision amending Decision 573/2007/EC establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013, adopted in parallel, Members consider that there should be a certain number of categories which remain stable every year, so that Member States can resettle particularly vulnerable persons at any time of the year. They recognise that an adequate resettlement programme requires a regular update of the nationalities and categories of refugees that should be prioritised in the resettlement process, with special regard to geographical emergencies and particularly vulnerable persons who are most in need of protection.
They believe that the Union’s annual priorities should be defined with the involvement and support of the European Parliament at all stages of the identification and assessment of candidates for resettlement. A procedure associating the European Parliament is thus proposed. Members also suggest that individual Member States should be enabled to prepare for emergency procedures in cases of unforeseen humanitarian circumstances – for instance, when refugees are under armed attack or when natural accidents or catastrophes seriously affect refugee camps.
Ensuring that more Member States participate in resettlement: to date, only 10 Member States currently have resettlement programmes, established without coordination among themselves. Recognising that certain Member States, particularly in southern Europe, face special challenges because of their location at the external border of the Union, Members call for greater incentives to encourage more Member States to participate in the EU Resettlement Programme. They suggest that more substantial financial assistance is given to Member States wishing to start participating in the EU Resettlement Programme, in order to help them create a sustainable resettlement programme and to alleviate the initial burden of setting up such an initiative. In order to avoid an excessive impact on the European Refugee Fund, the value of the financial assistance should be equalised to the other Member States after the first years of participation to the programme.
Members stress that it will not be possible to increase the number of refugees resettled in the EU without an administrative and expert framework to underpin the programme and the creation of permanent structures to prepare for resettlement and follow-up on the integration process.
Follow-up measures: Members consider that an effective EU Resettlement Programme must include provisions on follow-up measures. They call on the EASO to establish clear criteria for quality resettlement in close cooperation with the UNHCR, NGOs and local authorities and follow the resettlement of the refugees, in order to contribute to the evaluation and further improvement of the resettlement activities in the Member States.