Following the agreement reached, behind closed doors, with the European Parliament, the Council has recently adopted its common position on the establishment of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) reflecting the compromise deal. The European Parliament will do nothing else but confirm the agreement. The Commission presented the proposal in February 2009 but due to the "fast track legislation” the European Asylum Support Office will be up and running very soon. The EASO headquarters will be in Valletta, Malta.
Such scheme is likely to weaken the UK's asylum controls. The EASO will try to interfere with the UK decision on who to admit and refuse. According to Phil Woolas, the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration at the Home Office, the Government was particularly concerned about the EASO costs and size. Moreover, he said to European Scrutiny Committee “We will closely scrutinise its proposed remit in terms of how far the Office would seek to harmonise country specific asylum policy.” Nevertheless, the Government has decided to opt into the Regulation.
The Office will be responsible for facilitating, coordinating and strengthening practical cooperation among Member States on asylum matters as well as contributing to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. Practical cooperation on asylum is aiming at increasing the convergence of Member States' decision-making procedures on asylum issues. In order to contribute to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System, the Office will coordinate and promote exchange of information between Member State’s asylum authorities and between them and the Commission regarding the implementation of all instruments of the Community asylum acquis. It will create factual, legal and case-law databases on national, European and international asylum instruments. The Draft Regulation foresees, particularly, that the Office will gather information on the processing of applications for international protection by national authorities as well as information on national legislation and legislative developments in the field of asylum, including case law.
The Office will support Member States facing strong pressure on their asylum systems. In fact, the European support Office is mainly intended to help countries such as Malta and Cyprus, which are subject to particular pressure from asylum seekers. The Office will coordinate and support common action to assist Member States which are faced with particular pressure on their asylum systems due to their geographical or demographic situations. It would set up an early warning system to notify the Member States of any influx of applicants for international protection. It would also coordinate action intended to ensure that appropriate reception facilities can be promptly established by the Member State under pressure.
The EASO will also be in charge of coordinating the asylum support teams. Such teams would be made up of national asylum experts that will be deployed at the request of Member States faced with a mass influx of asylum seekers into their territory. Member States would be required to contribute to the Asylum Intervention Pool via a national expert pool on the basis of defined profiles. The agency would cover the costs incurred by Member States in making their experts available for deployment to asylum support teams such as travel costs, vaccinations, insurance, health care, daily subsistence allowances and technical equipment.
Moreover, the Office would also support those Member States by coordinating exchanges of information and all other activities concerning the implementation of mechanisms for the intra-Community transfer, on a voluntary basis, of beneficiaries of international protection from such Member States to others.
The Support Office will “organise, promote and coordinate activities relating to information on countries of origin” which, Phil Woolas, may allow the EASO “to play a role in deciding when asylum seekers from certain countries should be granted protection.”
Furthermore, EASO will be in charge of coordinating “exchanges of information” as well as member states's actions on resettlement of beneficiaries of international protection from third countries. Namely, the Office will assist Member States in identifying refugees to be resettled and the reception they will be given. The joint EU Resettlement Programme might be voluntary but Brussels will coordinate, through the EASO, the resettlement activities of the participating Member States.
The EASO would also be in charge of providing scientific and technical assistance for the development of asylum policy and legislation. It would also assist EU Member States in comparing good practices and organising training at EU level.
The EASO will provide assistance to Member States in taking decisions on asylum claims whilst coordinating their activities. Such agency will coordinate and step up cooperation on asylum between Member States contributing therefore to harmonise different national practices.
The Office will he headed by a Management Board composed of representatives of the Member States and the Commission, and by an executive committee.
Obviously, the creation of another agency will have budgetary implications. The Office will have a Community budget line. Some of the budgetary resources presently allocated to the European Refugee Fund (ERF) for Community actions would be transferred to the EASO. The Commission foresees a budget of €40.25 million for 2010 to 2013, which breaks down as follows: €5.25 million in 2010, €8 million in 2011, €12 million in 2012 and €15 million in 2013. Hence, in 2013 the budget would triple. The Office would open with a team of 24 but a total of 94 people would be hired gradually between 2010 and 2013.
