Press conference by Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), rapporteur, following the Civil Liberties Committee discussion on the reform of the EU asylum system.

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

press conference

asylum procedures in the EU (T)

KELLER, Fabienne (Renew, FR)

Press conference by Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure

Introductory remarks to the press conference

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be presenting this report today, one year after the Asylum Migration Pact was presented by the Commission, I am the rapporteur on the Regulation for Border Procedures. In fact, over the course of the first year of my term, I carried out an evaluation of the Dublin regulation, now known as the Rome Regulation, and I am a shadow rapporteur on that particular file. This report is rooted in the many meetings that I held with my shadow rapporteur colleagues, in addition to a number of visits on the ground in Lampedusa, in the Netherlands and in Sicily, as well in the Canaries. In addition to visits to Germany and France, of course.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, What we are looking at here is a new border asylum procedure as proposed by the Commission. And let me say that in broad brush strokes, I support the principles in this particular file. But what has guided me in my work is wanting to uphold our European legislation, while at the same time we ensure that people are respected to whatever their status, whatever their situation, and even if they are unable to remain on the EU territory, whether or not they have refugee status, they ought to be treated in a humane manner.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, So in this report, I support the broad brushstrokes of the elements put forward by the Commission, setting out criteria of eligibility, undocumented migrants arriving from third countries and the protection rate for that is under 20 percent, and these people would be eligible for the so-called border procedure. And in my report, I further propose to take into account recent developments in third countries focussed on the work of EASO and the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Now on deadlines. The Commission has suggested 12 weeks for asylum procedures and 12 weeks to manage returns, and I support this timeline. I would like to see a more effective, more efficient procedure. We wish to move away from the mistakes of the past. Leaving people to have to take refuge in camps such as Moria, an example of what not to do on the Mediterranean coast.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, I have also made some significant additions, in particular when it comes to the implementation of this particular regulation on centres at the border. My proposals are as follows: these centres are entirely to be financed by the EU budget in order to provide tangible support to frontline countries. Second proposal: we wish to enable member states, frontline states, to set up these centres wherever they wish on their territory, not necessarily the physical external border. And this may enable us to have more competent staff and essential services that will be made more accessible to those living in these camps.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Third proposal, we would like to see EU agencies, in particular Frontex and the Asylum agency, have a more specific mandate. In particular, we'd like to see tangible solidarity means with, for instance, additional human support when there are large arrivals of migrants. And we would also like these agencies to have a right of initiative. This would mean that they would be able to respond swiftly were there to be a significant arrival at the point of entry to the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Now, when it comes to the staff and the means for border procedures. All of this depends on resources and in particular, human resources. As I have just said, I suggest that we make better use of human resources working for these agencies. We would also like the Commission to specify the human and material means necessary for these procedures, the type of staff, the training they ought to undergo, the number of staff thought to be available. And we were able to see this working in a simulation set up by the Commission and EASO setting out the number of staff members, the places where they ought to be working. And simulations like these are useful for us to have a better understanding of the kind of conditions people would expect. And we would like to see cooperation and coordination amongst all relevant stakeholders on this.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, On returns, and this is under a separate text, but I underline in my amendments how important it is to work to bolster voluntary returns. We know that these are more effective. And so I've asked of my amendments that the member states set up specific programmes for voluntary returns with the suitable support in terms of resources that can be provided. Now, when it comes to respecting fundamental rights, which is due to the parliament's heart, we ought to clarify rules on detention and deprivation of liberty.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Border centres have the possibility of refusing people entry onto national territory, so ask the Commission to clarify the rules around the detention that may take place, and these rules ought to be used only as a last resort. Still on fundamental rights, a further proposal urging member states to develop alternatives to deprivation of liberty, including an independent follow up mechanism on the implementation of the rules and the respect and upholding of fundamental rights. And I will be presenting this report to the Committee later on to hear from my colleagues. Since we wish to take a constructive approach working together, in order to move this package forward on asylum and migration.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, So that is the broad outlines of the proposals that I have put forward in this report on the regulation on border procedures. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, Now this legislation may appear rather technical. You have different texts that are all parts of a whole, which are brought together under the Asylum Contact Group, which includes the rapporteurs on different pieces of legislation. We talk about the way children are treated. We talk about conditions for deprivation of liberty and other cross-cutting themes. And we have a shared will to move forward together on this file. This is a file that Europeans want to see us move forward on. They want progress to be made.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), Rapporteur on the draft report on Amended Asylum Procedure, But what's more, I'm convinced that there are concrete improvements that can been made. We can improve the implementation of the current legislation, but we'll discuss that to the a further different press conference because I think we really can't wait any longer. Improvements need to be made now in the way that we handle arrivals of migrants and how these procedures are handled at the EU level.

Question regarding how the transit areas for migrants will work. 

Question regarding the negotiations on asylum menagement

Question regarding how Member States will deal with transit areas for migrants