Refugees, displaced persons, asylum-seekers: creating a European Refugee Fund

The amended proposal presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, for a Council Decision creating a European Refugee Fund, accepted and rejected amendments tabled by the European Parliament as follows: 1) 4 amendments were accepted in full and relate to the following: - that the European Refugee Fund should help the Member States to improve the implementation of their refugee policies; - that temporary protection also concerns a mass influx of displaced persons; - that the allocation of resources should take account of the relative efforts made by each Member State to receive and support refugees and by avoiding describing such reception as a burden; - that the selection and management of projects are to be the primary, but not exclusive, responsibility of the Member States. 2) 6 amendments were accepted in part which concern: - the Commission considering it preferable to mention the action of NGOs in general rather than the action of refugee organisation; - the Commission considering it preferable to mention the role of NGOs in general rather than involving refugee communities in the framing of integration programmes; - the Commission agreeing to the definition of the "refugees" target group. However, it disagrees with mention of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention but seeks to maintain the wording "third-country nationals or stateless persons"; - the Commission agreeing with the addition of "public information measures" to the list of actions eligible for financing as Community action. On the other hand, the Commission considers it useful to retain the mention of technical assistance; - the Commission accepting the amendment which related to ensuring the continuity of programmes and actions. However, the Commission rejects the amendment relating to partnership between the authority responsible in the Member States and other interested parties; - the Commission accepting that each Member State should be guaranteed a minimum share of funds but added that the detailed arrangements have to be spelled out. 3) the Commission rejected 22 of the European Parliament's proposed amendments. �