EU: Migration plan sidelined and resurrected
01 November 1998
When the incoming Austrian Presidency circulated a report entitled "Strategy paper on immigration and asylum policy" it came under attack from a wide range of voluntary groups and NGOs. Most EU governments claimed it was "nothing to do with them" and even a revised version circulated at the Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Vienna at the end of October was also considered to be too controversial. The Justice and Home Affairs Council on 3-4 December said it was a "useful contribution".
In fact, the proposals in the first version were known to EU governments and it was prepared with the help of Directorate-General H (Justice and Home Affairs) in the General Secretariat of the Council. Moreover, the Presidency Troika, then the UK, Austria and Germany, would certainly have seen it.
By the time of the Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting the "problem" was how to rescue the most urgent proposals in the report while appearing publicly to dump it. Along come the "Netherlands proposal" to create a "Task Force on asylum and migration".
The General Affairs Council on 7-8 December agreed to set up the "Task Force". This is to be a High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration comprising of top officials from EU each member state. It is charged with drawing up a list of "countries of origin and transit of asylum seekers and migrants" together with "action plans" on a "cross-pillar approach" by March 1999. The High Level Working Group also has to prepare a final report in time for the planned special justice and home affairs European Summit in Tampere, Finland in October 1999. A "cross-pillar" approach means that instead of just bringing pressure to bear on migration questions ("third pillar") this will be coupled with diplomatic pressure and the possibility of economic aid to the "problem" country of origin and the neighbouring region.
The General Affairs Council agreed the tasks for the Group proposed by the Netherlands and left its terms of reference to be decided by COREPER (the committee of permanent representatives from each EU member state).
The Netherlands proposal includes:
a) drawing up a list of "the most important" countries of origin of asylum seekers (a euphemism for the countries which create problems for the EU);
b) establish a plan "to tackle each of these countries" including:
- "causes of the influx" (that is the EU's alleged "influx");
- the identification of "reception of the displaced persons in the region" (that is, how can the "influx" be contained on the door-step of the originating country rather than the EU's);
- "deepening political.diplomatic consultations with the country of origin and/or neighbouring countries";
- "the inclusion of readmission" clauses in EU association agreements with these countries (that is, tying economic aid to taking back people from their country)
Strategy paper on immigration and asylum policy, Presidency to K4 Committee, 9809/98, CK4 27, Limité, 1.7.98; Strategy paper on migration and asylum policy, Presidency to K4 Committee, 9809/1/98, Limité, 29.9.98; Justice and Home Affairs Council, press release, 4.12.98; General Affairs Council, press release, 8.12.98.