Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SV), rapporteur, makes a statement on the Reform of the Dublin system, in the EP in Brussels.

Brussels

statement

WIKSTRÖM, Cecilia (ALDE, SE)

asylum procedures in the EU (T)

Reform of the Dublin system: statement from Cecilia WIKSTRÖM (ALDE, SV), rapporteur

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/19698533/I134725Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&#214;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, We are a Union of 28 member states and as we know the situation as of today it&rsquo;s the frontline member states facing the Mediterranean Sea that we need to actually show solidarity to. Now, solidarity cannot be legislated, we need to put measures in place that would ease the burden on them and one of them is that in the Commission proposal they have admissibility checks, I have deleted that because it still would imply that Greece and Italy would do the admissibility checks for all the people that actually enter into the EU through these countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, It would imply that Greece would do one million admissibility checks namely check everyone that entries into the EU and the other countries would do nothing, so in order to ease the burden on the frontline member states, member states can still conduct the admissibility checks but within the framework of a different legal instrument namely the asylum procedures regulation where it could be mandatory or optional, it&rsquo;s still work under progress under that file.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, When it comes to Member States at our outer borders it is of course very important that we do everything we can to help them, because currently it is Italy and Greece that receive all those that cross the Mediterranean. And one such example is that I remove in my report all these admissability checks before a Dublin control is made, for example when it comes to safe countries. The Member States can still do it but then it will be in the framework of the procedure regulation instead, another one of the legals instruments in the common Asylum package.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, I underline the importance for the member states to comply with their obligation which would be that the first country where an asylum seeker or a refugee is entering into the EU should mandatory register each and every one that enters into our territory, and this member state must also protect and maintain our external borders. And I also impose on the asylum seeker to comply with the system and remain within the system and it should be underlined that this is the only way to obtain legal status in the EU is to remain within the system and by no means go under the radar and disappear and encourage secondary movements to whatever destination one would prefer.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, We know that tens of thousands of children have disappeared in Europe, and have become the objects of all sorts of exploitation, and we can't allow that to continue. It also the responsibility of the Member States to register everyone in the EURODAC (European Dactyloscopy, the EU fingerprint database for asylum seekers and irregular border-crossers) register, and to protect and maintain our outer borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, Europe is not Europe a la carte if you are a European member state you should comply with all the legislation, we do it when it comes to the environment when it comes to legal issues like criminal law like all these kind of issues. (...) The Commission is proposing that for the people that are not relocated according to their corrective allocation mechanism there should be an opt-out which should impose 250.000 euros as a fine or sanction, I am deleting that but I am exploring the possibilities of withholding some of the EU funds because there is a correspondence between these member states being more hostile to refugees and reluctant to receiving them and their receiving of EU funding, so maybe we could just withhold some of the funds until they comply with the legislation that we are put in place.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, Currently there are a couple of countries, a handful of countries in Europe, that refuse to receive any (refugees), and then that has to have consequences, and I am currently looking into this together with the legal service, how we could withhold some of those funds that the countries would otherwise receive. The Commission has made a proposal where a price tag of 250 000 euro is put on every person which is not received according to the solidarity mechanism, but I think it feels horrible to put a price tag on every individual. Instead we are trying to look at the possibility to withhold some of the EU funds. Because there is also a strong correlation between those countries that are the most reticent to receive refugees, they are also the ones that receive the most support from the EU.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish), Cecilia WIKSTR&Ouml;M (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur, If we can just work out a resilient system for year to come we will be much better off, we live in a globalised world it&rsquo;s difficult to predict the geopolitical situation in the future but there are no signs of the fact that it would be an easier situation and that&rsquo;s why it is so important that we put together a common European asylum system worth the European Union in the 21st century.