Displaced persons: solidarity in the admission and residence of beneficiaries of the temporary protection

In adopting the report by Mr Jan WIEBENGA (ELDR, NL) concerning solidarity in the admission and residence of beneficiaries of the temporary protection of displaced persons, the European Parliament called for the joint action to relate to Community aid measures. It recalled that under the Amsterdam Treaty, the Council was required to adopt measures promoting a balance of effort between Member States in receiving and bearing the consequences of receiving refugees and displaced persons. It pointed out that once this Treaty had entered into force, the proposal would have to be based on the future Article 63 rather than Article K.3. It suggested that a Member State's specific quota should be based not only on the number of displaced persons received but also on the financially assessable contributions by the Member States. It once again proposed the idea of a European Refugee Fund as a financial instrument for the display of ad hoc solidarity. It wished implementing decisions concerning solidarity measures to be adopted by a qualified majority rather than unanimously, and called for people in need of international protection to be distributed among the Member States in accordance with an allocation formula which took account of the economic situation and reception capacity of the Member States, before or after their arrival within the territory of the Member States concerned. However, the distribution rules must be without prejudice to the principle of the 'unity of the family' and the rights of unaccompanied refugee children. It must also not affect the rules of the Dublin Convention. Parliament asked to be fully consulted about application measures arising from the joint action.�