The European Parliament adopted by 396 votes to 190,
with 50 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a
Council decision establishing provisional measures in the area of
international protection for the benefit of Sweden in accordance
with Article 9 of Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 and Article 9 of
Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601 establishing provisional measures
in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy
and Greece.
Parliament stipulated in the recitals that:
- Sweden formally requested the suspension of its
obligations under Council
Decisions (EU) 2015/1523 and (EU)
2015/1601, having to face both challenges of being a country of
first arrival and final destination;
- Sweden had in 2015 by far the highest number of
applicants for international protection per capita in the EU (11
503 applicants per million inhabitants) and in March 2016, Sweden
had received a total of 170 104 applicants, of which 73 331
were children, including 36 181 unaccompanied minors who have
special needs and require additional resources in order to
provide access to health care, dignified accommodation and
education according to Union asylum rules.