In the context of the discussions on the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), ministers held a first exchange of views on two recent Commission proposals:
- a directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing international protection; and
- a directive on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection and the content of the protection granted.
The Presidency concluded that the discussion highlighted a number of issues which will need to be addressed in the coming negotiations within the Council and with the European Parliament. These negotiations will be guided by the following principles: more efficiency, greater cost effectiveness and a high level of protection.
The two proposals for amending the directives tabled by the Commission in October 2009 aim to offer a higher degree of protection to victims of persecutions and to improve the coherence between EU asylum instruments. They are also meant to simplify and consolidate procedural standards, thus preventing fraud and improving the efficiency of the asylum process.
The CEAS was launched in the conclusions of the European Council of Tampere in 1999. In October 2008, the European Council adopted the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum and confirmed its commitment to complete the CEAS by 2012. Besides the EASO/ERF and the two most recent directive proposals mentioned above, the following legislative initiatives form part of the CEAS:
- the reception conditions directive,
- the so-called Dublin II regulation, determining the member state responsible for examining an asylum application,
- the EURODAC regulation, establishing a system of comparing fingerprints in order to effectively implement the Dublin system,
- an amendment to the ERF relating to the establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme.