The last provisions of the European Parliament for a more “user-friendly” Union The European Parliament (EP), gathered in Strasbourg in plenary session from 1st to 4th October, approved two provisions on asylum and immigration, respectively the Report of the British Labour MEP Evans on the Commission’s Communication to the Council and to the EP “ Towards a common procedure on asylum and a uniform status valid throughout the Union for persons to whom the right of asylum has been recognized” (298 in favour, 235 against, 27 abstentions), and the Report of the Austrian People’s Party MEP Pirker on the Commission’s Communication to the Council and to the EP “ Community Policy on immigration” (378 in favour, 134 against, 37 abstentions). The Reports were accompanied by two Resolutions. The Evans Report puts the emphasis on the need to adopt a common policy on asylum, abandoning the concept of “Fortress Europe” and favouring the adoption of higher standards for the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers than those offered by the current minimum guarantees. The Resolution on common procedure considers asylum “ a fundamental element of a European space of freedom, security and justice, which must be based on respect for the fundamental rights of the individual as enunciated in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights“. Confirming the objective set out by the Tampere Council in 1999 of achieving the adoption of a uniform status throughout the EU, the EP expressed itself in favour of a single procedure for vetting asylum applications and for “ combating the root causes of migrations“. The Pirker Report, drawing a distinction between economic immigration, refugees who seek asylum and refugees forced into exile as a result of war, asks among other things for a joint EU discipline on the conditions of entry and residence for migrant workers and the introduction of a combined work and residence permit for immigrants, free to circulate within the Union but issued a work and residence permit in one member State alone. The Resolution on immigration policy reaffirms the objectives of the Tampere Council and expresses the hope that “ member States conduct an immigration policy that forms part of an overall EU framework of norms and procedures based on recommended numerical objectives and that takes into account the existing disparities between the member States, especially as regards their links with the countries of origin, their policy of integration and the needs of their labour market“.
