Asylum: list of European safe third States, responsability of examining an application. Initiative Austria

The European Parliament adopted a resolution rejecting the Austrian initiative. The report was drafted by Olle SCHMIDT (ELDR, Sweden). Parliament felt that the list was impractical, because after accession, only Switzerland would remain on the list. It also stated that there should first be a truly European asylum procedure, before safe third States are to be identified. Therefore, Parliament asked the Council and Commission to submit as swiftly as possible the modified proposal for a directive on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status. After Parliament had rejected the initiative, the Council was asked its opinion. Since nobody from the Council was present, the initiative was not referred back to committee, but the plenary decided to adopt the report, thus closing the procedure.�