The European Commissioner for liberty, justice and security Franco Frattini has presented a plan for the harmonization at the EU level of procedures for requesting political asylum. The Executive’s proposal tabled some months ago but as yet unable to find agreement in the Council of Ministers starts out from the recognition that “the national legislations on the matter are too diverse and need harmonization”, both to ensure the “substance” of the procedures to asylum seekers and to prevent more permissive or more restrictive legislations creating imbalances between the various member states. As regards the granting of refugee status, on the other hand, Frattini admitted that at the present time it is still not possible to speak of harmonization, only of “minimum European standards”. For further information, consult the website http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/index_en.htm
