Commission proposes a better exchange of information on national migration and asylum policies in the Union

The Commission has tabled today a proposal for a Council Decision on the establishment of a mutual information procedure on national measures taken in the areas of asylum and immigration which could affect other Member States. The proposal is based on the recognition that the absence of border checks in the Schengen area and the gradual development of common EU immigration and asylum policies have increased the need for a timely information exchange on, and a discussion of, national measures Member States are preparing or about to take in the areas of asylum and immigration.

«This mechanism «the Vice-President of the Commission, Franco Frattini, declared «will enhance trust among Member States and will facilitate, through mutual information, the adoption of coordinated approaches to solve questions of mutual interest». The proposed mutual information procedure has been put forward at the initiative of Vice-President Frattini and was endorsed by the Justice and Home Affairs Council in April this year. The procedure, based on article 66 of the EC Treaty, requests Member States to communicate to the other Member States and to the Commission measures which they intend to take in the areas of asylum and immigration, at the latest when they are made public, through a web-based network run by the Commission. Only measures susceptible of having an impact on other Member States or on the Union as a whole must be communicated. A particular national measure communicated through the system can be the object of an exchange of views. The purpose of this exchange of views is to facilitate the identification of problems of common interest; therefore, discussions will not lead to any decision nor will they result in any kind of recommendations to the Member State concerned.

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, a large number of common measures have been adopted in the areas of asylum and immigration, as the Community and the Member States share the competence to legislate in those areas. Nevertheless, national authorities keep an important role and are continuously adopting new national measures, which may in some cases have an impact on other Member States or on the Community as a whole.