Archive for category: ANNOUNCEMENTS

The process of reforming the Dublin III Regulation, which aims to establish a single asylum system for all Member States, is undergoing extremely slow and difficult steps. Greece and Italy are looking for a fairer “Dublin”, as under the current regulation they are obliged to examine all asylum applications lodged in the EU. However, some European countries are opposed to changing the regulation because they do not want to accept refugees.

Changes in the European asylum system are necessary due to the new reality that has been shaped over the last two years. As pointed out by Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Immigration, “the refugee crisis of the past two years has shown that, in its present form, the common European asylum system has serious structural weaknesses. We need a durable asylum system based on solidarity and fair sharing of responsibilities. A viable and comprehensive system, where no country alone will be able to face future challenges. ”

The refugee and migratory flows to the European Union are estimated to increase in the coming years. According to estimates by the European Union, 1,500,000 people from sub-Saharan African countries are ready to leave their country in the next few years and look for a better future in Europe. However, negotiations to change the Dublin Regulation, which began a year ago, with the submission of the relevant proposal on the part of the Commission, are becoming more and more difficult as some European states refuse to take refugees.

The European Parliament, in the context of the legislative process that has begun to reform the Dublin Regulation, has come up with its proposals.

In particular, it proposes to activate a system of automatic migration of asylum seekers to another Member State when a country reaches 100% of the applications it can receive. At the same time, the asylum seeker should automatically move to the country where he has relatives in the context of family reunification. Generally, although applicants do not have the right to choose a transition country, they should be able to express a preference based on their skills. Finally, the European Parliament proposes a five-year adaptation period for the Member States with no experience and infrastructure to prepare for the reception of asylum seekers.

From Wednesday sanctions will be imposed on countries that are not implementing the refugee relocation agreement.

A month ago, Commissioner for Immigration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, warned the Member States not complying with the relocation of refugees from Greece and Italy, giving four weeks.

As he stated, “the Commission will not hesitate to make use of the powers provided for and initiate infringement proceedings”.

Countries that have not yet implemented the agreement are Hungary and Poland, and there are the other Member States with little input into the process.

In the May report, the European Commission stated that Hungary, Poland and Austria are the only Member States that have not yet relocated – although Austria has formally committed to relocating 50 people from Italy – while the Czech Republic has not participated in the program for about a year. According to Deputy European Commission Vice-President Alexander Wiederstein, if the Commission intends to make the relevant announcements, he referred to statements by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at Der Spiegel that the Commission would address this issue “this week”.

Relocation from Greece and Italy started in the autumn of 2015 with the aim of transferring 60,000 refugees from Greece to other European countries in two years. To date, only 12,000 have been relocated. Other 12,400 could be relocated if all were in line with the agreement.

The German Foreign Ministry admits that the EU’s rules on relocation to the country of immigrants from Greece have not been respected, Die Welt reports.

According to the decision of the European Council, Germany should have received 28,000 immigrants and refugees who have applied for asylum in Greece by the end of September this year, but by the end of April it had received just 2.423, according to a reply from the Ministry Foreign Affairs to a question from the Greens parliamentary group.

Germany also receives very few immigrant relatives living in Germany from Greece. More than 5,500 applications were made last year in the first quarter, but only 739 people last year and 837 others in the first quarter of this year, as the answer shows.

Greenpeace spokesperson for immigration and refugee policy, Louise Amtsberg, criticised the government. “It is a shame that the German government refuses to implement the binding EU decision on the relocation of refugees from Greece,” he said.

The “Employers together for integration” initiative was launched by Dimitris Avramopoulos during the second European Debate on Skills and Immigration, held at the European Business Summit in Brussels.

The Commissioner for Immigration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, in the presence of the presidents and senior managers of many companies committed to promoting the integration of immigrants, as well as representatives of social and economic actors, pointed out that the aim of the initiative is to implement accession in practice, And the dissemination and exploitation of our good practices in Europe for integrating immigrants into the labor market.

As he said, the private sector in Europe is already contributing significantly to the integration of immigrants. “They need our support for language learning, training, finding a job. Accession is not only beneficial to those in need of our help, who have new skills and are going to contribute for a longer period to the European economy, “he said, pointing out obstacles to the process of EU integration into the EU so far.

According to Mr Avramopoulos, successful membership is in the interest of society as a whole, but, as he said, the success of membership is not only dependent on governments. “Integration is not an issue that concerns only governments and immigrants. There is a need for an approach involving all the actors involved. The role of employers is decisive in this process. And that is precisely the goal of the initiative “Together with employers for integration”.

Addressing business executives, Mr Avramopoulos said he looks forward to their participation, noting that the EU is ready to support this effort. It is noted that the aim of this initiative is to promote employers’ efforts across the EU to support the integration of refugees and migrants into the labour market, but also more broadly.