The Council of Justice and Internal Affairs Ministers of the EU reached an agreement on asylum procedures last week. It gives the go-ahead, after three years of negotiation, to the Directive that introduces into EU and national law common regulations for the processing of asylum applications and the granting of refugee status. There are two main planks to the new Directive: on the one hand, it lays down common minimum standards aimed at harmonising national legislation on the matter, especially as regards the processing of asylum applications, legal assistance to asylum seekers, the possibility of lodging an appeal in the case of a negative decision by the national authorities, and the specification of types of persecution and the victims of such persecutions that give a right to the status of refugee; on the other, thanks to the so-called List of Safe Countries, the new Directive will accelerate procedures for those coming from states considered safe (i.e. with a sufficient degree of respect for human rights and democracy) with a view to avoiding possible abuses to the detriment of those who really do have a right to benefit from asylum. But it’s just this list that is giving rise to concerns among human rights organizations: even the UN High Commission for Refugees has expressed misgivings about the concept of “country of safe origin”, since its literal application could reduce the level of protection even for those who come from a state included in the List, but who really do have a bona fide right to be granted asylum or refugee status in the European Union.
