‘The European Council reaffirms its
commitment to the policy guidelines and objectives defined at Tampere and notes
that while some progress has been made, there is a need for new impetus and
guidelines to make up for delays in some areas. Holding Justice and Home
Affairs sessions at shorter intervals will help speed work up. It is also
important that decisions taken by the Union be transposed speedily into
national legal systems and that conventions concluded since the Maastricht
Treaty came into force be ratified as soon as possible.
A true common asylum and immigration policy. Despite some achievements such as
the European Refugee Fund, the Eurodac Regulation and the Directive on
temporary protection, progress has been slower and less substantial than
expected. A new approach is therefore needed.
The European Council
undertakes to adopt, on the basis of the Tampere conclusions and as soon as
possible, a common policy on asylum and immigration, which will maintain the necessary
balance between protection of refugees, in accordance with the principles of
the 1951 Geneva Convention, the legitimate aspiration to a better life and the
reception capacities of the Union and its Member States.
40. A true common asylum and immigration policy implies the establishment of
the following instruments:
– the integration of the policy on migratory flows into the European
Union's foreign policy. In particular, European readmission agreements must be
concluded with the countries concerned on the basis of a new list of priorities
and a clear action plan. The European Council calls for an action plan to be
developed on the basis of the Commission communication on illegal immigration
and the smuggling of human beings;
– the development of a European system for exchanging information on
asylum, migration and countries of origin; the implementation of Eurodac and a
Regulation for the more efficient application of the Dublin Convention, with
rapid and efficient procedures;
– the establishment of common standards on procedures for asylum,
reception and family reunification, including accelerated procedures where
justified. These standards should take account of the need to offer help to
asylum applicants;
– the establishment of specific programmes to combat discrimination and
racism.
41. The European Council asks the Council to submit, by 30 April 2002 at the
latest, amended proposals concerning asylum procedures, family reunification
and the "Dublin II" Regulation. In addition, the Council is asked to
expedite its proceedings on other drafts concerning reception standards, the
definition of the term "refugee" and forms of subsidiary protection.
More effective control of external borders
42. Better management of the Union's external border controls will help in the
fight against terrorism, illegal immigration networks and the traffic in human
beings. The European Council asks the Council and the Commission to work out
arrangements for cooperation between services responsible for external border
control and to examine the conditions in which a mechanism or common services
to control external borders could be created. It asks the Council and the
Member States to take steps to set up a common visa identification system and
to examine the possibility of setting up common consular offices’.