Justice council: EU needs faster and more democratic asylum decisions

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 25th Oct 2004

Regarding the meeting today of the EU Council of justice & home affairs ministers, Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman Sarah Ludford MEP said:

"Member States including the UK agreed unanimously 4 years ago in the Treaty of Nice to move to qualified majority voting on asylum and immigration in 2004. It is a pity that David Blunkett - as often with this government - has failed to use that time to explain its European policy. It would help Britain by speeding up decisions that our government 'opts' into, for a level playing field and fair sharing of responsibility for refugees."

"But EU ministers must not be allowed to shuffle out of the other part of the legal obligation, which is to share power over legislation with the directly-elected European Parliament. At present ministers are practically a law unto themselves, since most national parliaments including Westminster fail to call them to account."

But Sarah Ludford warned: "There is no call to rush into a European border guard - as opposed to the useful European borders agency which simply offers oversight and advice. And it is premature to think of an EU asylum office or joint processing of claims before Member States can even manage to implement the laws they already agreed."