EU JUSTICE ministers meet in Brussels today to discuss wide-ranging plans to deepen the reach of European asylum law and provide higher standards of protection to asylum-seekers.
The proposals include measures that would guarantee an “adequate level” of material reception conditions for asylum-seekers while facilitating access to the labour market after six months.
Ireland is not automatically included in EU justice initiatives but can choose to opt in to a proposal if it is to the Government’s liking. The State participates in some but not all existing EU legislation in this area.
Although the Government has yet to exercise its right to opt in to proposals under discussion today, the debate is significant because it takes place under new Lisbon Treaty rules, which give participating countries less scope to veto measures that are not to their liking.
For the first time, the treaty also gives MEPs a right to co-decide legislation in this area.
While a European source acknowledged many of the proposals were contentious, the debate could give indications as to which aspects of the plan were likely to achieve enough support to be enacted as European law.
The new system was designed to increase legal certainty for asylum-seekers, the source said.
“We want to increase the quality of decision-making, especially in the first instance, before it goes to appeal.”
The source said the level of appropriate material reception level to which an asylum-seeker would be entitled would be determined with reference to minimum social welfare benefits.
Asylum-seekers should have enough to live in a dignified manner, but added that the proposals did not confer a right to social welfare benefits.
The proposals are designed to increase the efficiency of European asylum law, which is inconsistently applied by member states and is held in some cases to provide inadequate protection to asylum-seekers.
They would “reinforce solidarity” towards member states by changing an existing system under which applications for asylum are processed in the EU country in which the applicant first arrives in Europe.
While this leads to transfers of asylum-seekers between member states, the proposals would temporarily suspend the obligation to accept transferees in situations of “particular migratory pressure”.