UNHCR Recommendations for the incoming Spanish EU Presidency
Spain is the first country to take up the rotating Presidency after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. With this Treaty come new opportunities in the area of asylum and refugee protection, such as the establishment of a common asylum procedure and uniform status of asylum and of subsidiary protection. The Treaty also confers binding force on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including its article 18 on the “right to asylum” and article 19 on “protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition”. It opens new possibilities for national courts to refer preliminary questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This is likely to increase the number of cases in which the ECJ can provide guidance on the interpretation of asylum provisions, thereby improving consistency in the practice of Member States. The Treaty also creates an obligation for the Union to develop its partnerships and cooperation with third countries in the area of asylum and migration.
Spain also takes up the Presidency immediately after adoption of the EU’s new five-year programme in the area of Justice and Home Affairs, known as the “Stockholm Programme”, which sets the agenda for EU law and policy on asylum and international protection from 2010 to 2014. An Action Plan for implementation of the
Stockholm Programme will be finalized under Spain’s Presidency. The Presidency will also be expected to make progress toward setting up the European Asylum Support Office.
In view of these important developments and noting Spain’s longstanding commitment to refugee protection as well as humanitarian and development aid, Spain has an opportunity to make a major contribution during its Presidency to the strengthening of international protection in the European Union and beyond its borders.
Asylum after Stockholm
A strong Action Plan is required to translate the broad political goals of the Stockholm
Programme into focused and practical measures. UNHCR urges Spain to concentrate on the following five elements:
a. Possible EU accession to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees
b. Future establishment of the European Asylum Support Office
c. Transfer of protection within the EU
d. Improved responsibility-sharing in asylum within the EU
e. The elements of the ‘common procedure and uniform status’ foreseen in Lisbon Treaty/Stockholm Programme.
Priorities on the asylum agenda
Negotiations continue on the first “package” of legislative amendments, concerning Reception Conditions, Eurodac and Dublin II. With the Parliament’s resolutions on these instruments already adopted, the Presidency should aim to reach a fair and principled compromise between the Council and Parliament. Many important issues remain unresolved. UNHCR supports active steps to achieve progress in negotiations and encourages the Presidency to maintain the momentum on these proposals in the relevant Council working groups. Progress is needed on issues including detention and possible temporary suspension of the Dublin II Regulation to assist States under pressure, among others. These amendments are timely and necessary, and should not be delayed to await more evaluation. UNHCR encourages the Presidency to seek to make progress on:
a) The pending asylum instruments: Important questions raised in the Reception and
Dublin II Regulation recast proposals should be resolved, including on matters of detention, children and responsibility-sharing;
b) The new proposals on Asylum Procedures and Qualification: While some may see these as premature, UNHCR supports engagement with the Commission’s proposals in an effort to fill gaps which have a negative impact on the lives of asylum-seekers, refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries;
c) Integration of beneficiaries of international protection, with special attention to Roma in the context of the 2nd EU Roma Summit.
Unaccompanied and separated children
UNHCR welcomes Spain’s intention to devote priority to the issue of unaccompanied and separated children, including the development of an Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors. UNHCR believes this Plan should cover all unaccompanied and separated children from third countries, including those who apply for asylum and those who do not.
UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to promote wide consultations on the proposed Action Plan. Children’s rights organizations, reception workers, guardians, and local authorities as well as UN and other intergovernmental agencies all have longstanding practical experience and relevant insights.
UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to ensure that the Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors:
a) Allows for both legislative and practical actions;
b) Considers the situation of all unaccompanied and separated children, including those who apply for asylum as well as those who do not;
c) Addresses all aspects of the situation of unaccompanied and separated children, from initial reception and care within the EU, to access to child protection mechanisms and child-sensitive asylum procedures when needed, to the implementation of a long-term, sustainable solution in the child’s best interests.
Cooperation with third countries on refugee protection:
UNHCR welcomes the EU’s engagement with third countries to promote refugee protection, as well as EU support for UNHCR’s mandate activities. It is evident that EU actions in third countries must not undermine protection for asylum-seekers in or at the borders of the EU. UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to incorporate its considerations into discussions regarding to the so-called New Approaches, Regional Protection Programmes and Refugee resettlement.
Migration and border management
Spain has affirmed that reinforcing Frontex and ensuring that EU migration policy is accompanied by close cooperation with migrants’ countries of origin and transit will be priorities of its Presidency. A review of the Frontex mandate will take place in 2010.
UNHCR encourages the Spanish Presidency to pursue its migration agenda with due regard for international refugee and human rights norms. This includes:
a) Inclusion of refugee protection safeguards in migration control measures generally;
b) Development of clear guidance with respect to the disembarkation of persons intercepted at sea;
c) Attention to the potential protection needs of victims of trafficking;
d) With respect to the return of people found not to need international protection, measures to ensure that such return is safe, dignified and sustainable.
- calling for safeguards in border management activities, including under Frontex’s auspices, with the revision of that body’s mandate foreseen in early 2010; a call for more focus on protection needs of victims of trafficking as part of anti-trafficking measures.
Humanitarian and development action
UNHCR welcomes the high priority attached by the Spanish Presidency to support for multilateral cooperation through three pillars, namely peace and security, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as sustainable development, including achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. UNHCR urges attention to the fact that solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons in the developing world – whether return to their countries or areas of origin or integration in places of refuge – are inextricably linked to broader development issues, yet refugees and internally displaced people are often not included in national and international development plans.
UNHCR urges the Presidency to:
a) Bring issues related to forced displacement and the urbanization of forced displacement to the discussion table in Council Working Groups on Development, Humanitarian Affairs, and Climate Change
b) Use its leadership to highlight the linkages between development actions and durable solutions to problems of forced displacement, and in particular internal displacement
c) Work with UNHCR and other actors to highlight the need to protect refugees and internally displaced people from sexual and gender-based violence
d) Put a spotlight on issues of ongoing internal displacement crises in Latin America.
Read the whole recommendations
Swedish EU-Presidency 2009
This website is no longer updated. It was a UNHCR Stockholm initiative meant to facilitate the monitoring of refugee and asylum issues during Sweden's European Union Presidency 1 July – 31 December 2009.
