Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC (Mass Flow Directive)

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Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC

Title: Council Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC of July 20, 2001 on minimum standards for the granting of temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and measures to promote a balanced distribution of the burdens associated with the reception of these persons and the consequences of such reception, on the Member States
Designation:
(not official) 		Mass Flow Policy
Scope: EU
Legal matter: Immigration law
Basis: EC Treaty , in particular Article 63 number 2 letters a) and b) ,
Procedure overview: European Commission
European Parliament
IPEX Wiki
To be
implemented in national law by: 		December 31, 2002
Implemented by: Germany: § 24 Residence Act
Reference: OJ L 212 of 7.8.2001, pp. 12-23
Full text Consolidated version (not official)
basic version
The regulation must have been implemented in national law.
Please note the information on the current version of legal acts of the European Union !

The Directive 2001/55 / EC on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and measures promoting a balance of efforts associated with receiving such persons and the consequences thereof, the Member States , is a Directive of the European Community , which sets minimum standards for the granting of temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of refugees . It is also known as the Bulk Flow Policy or Temporary Protection Policy , and sometimes the Emergency Temporary Protection Policy .

The directive provides a mechanism for the EU-wide coordinated reception of large numbers of refugees beyond the individual asylum procedure and beyond the Dublin system . The Council of the European Union is responsible for determining a mass influx .

Procedure and goals: mass flow and temporary protection

In addition to the refugee status under the Geneva Refugee Convention (Agreement on the Legal Status of Refugees) (1951, Article 1) and the subsidiary protection under the Qualification Directive (Recognition Directive ) (2004/2011, Art. 15), the EU Directive provides for another, So far, however, in no case applied form of protection, namely the temporary protection of displaced persons. The term displaced person is broadly defined, wider than the concept of (state) displacement : In particular, it includes those seriously threatened or affected by systematic or widespread human rights violations - thus refugees within the meaning of the Geneva Convention - as well as persons who have fled from areas in armed conflict or ongoing violence ( war refugees ). This protection only takes effect when the Council of the European Union decides by a qualified majority that a flow of refugees is a mass influx . The Member States indicate how many people they take in voluntarily; Financial support is provided by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (formerly: the European Refugee Fund ). Temporary protection can then be granted quickly and unbureaucratically, with the respective member state being obliged to register and, among other things, to ensure adequate accommodation and livelihood.

People with temporary protection have access to the labor market and do not have to live in reception centers or refugee shelters. The protection ends after one year (extendable to a total of up to two years or with a new qualified majority decision of the council to a maximum of three years) or ends at any time as soon as the council decides by a qualified majority, so there is no long-term prospect of staying. Those affected are not prevented from applying for asylum.

The objectives of this guideline are:

  • the creation of minimum social standards for people who need temporary protection,
  • the creation of a solidarity mechanism between the EU Member States for equitable distribution and
  • enabling a temporary residence status for those seeking protection.

The directive was adopted after the experience with the large number of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. At that time, European states had to take in refugees unbureaucratically, which led to Bosnia de facto support campaign in Austria and similar measures in other states. However, one of the objectives initially envisaged in the directive, a binding admission quota for the EU member states, has been dropped:

“After the refugee crises as a result of the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia , the EU wanted to set up a joint mechanism for the rapid admission of civil war refugees and displaced persons in similar crises. A binding admission quota should be set for each member state. However, the directive only agreed on minimum standards for temporary admission; otherwise the principle of voluntariness remained: the member states can continue to determine their own absorption capacity. "

content

The guideline is divided into nine chapters:

  • Chapter I (Articles 1 to 3): The general provisions determine the subject matter, definitions and scope,
  • Chapter II (Articles 4 to 7) regulates the duration and implementation of temporary protection,
  • Chapter III (Articles 8 to 16) regulates the obligations of the Member States towards persons enjoying temporary protection,
  • Chapter IV (Articles 17 to 19) regulates the asylum procedure in the context of temporary protection
  • Chapter V (Articles 20 to 23) regulates return and measures after the expiry of temporary protection,
  • Chapter VI (Articles 24 to 26) contains rules on solidarity,
  • Chapter VII (Article 27) regulates the cooperation between administrative authorities,
  • Chapter VIII (Article 28) contains special provisions,
  • Chapter IX (Articles 29 to 34) contains the final provisions.

It is clear from Article 2 that in this Directive the term “displaced persons” is not limited in a narrow sense to those affected by (state) displacement . Rather, this term describes here:

"Nationals of third countries or stateless persons who have had to leave their country or region of origin or, in particular, have been evacuated following a corresponding appeal by international organizations and cannot return safely and permanently because of the prevailing situation in this country, and who may fall within the scope of Article 1 Section A of the Geneva Refugee Convention or other international or national instruments that grant international protection fall. This applies in particular to people

i) who have fled areas subject to armed conflict or persistent violence;

ii) who have been seriously threatened or are victims of systematic or widespread human rights violations. "

Four central areas are regulated in Chapters II to VI:

Duration and implementation of the temporary protection (Chapter II)
According to Article 5, the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons is determined by a qualified majority decision of the European Council on a proposal from the European Commission . According to Article 4, the need for temporary protection is initially stipulated for a period of one year, although this period can be extended twice by six months each time. In addition, at the request of the Member State, the period can be extended by a qualified majority decision of the European Council for a further year to a maximum of three years. Article 6 stipulates that the temporary protection ends when the period has expired or at any time on the basis of a decision of the European Council adopted by a qualified majority on a proposal by the European Commission.
Obligations of the member states towards persons with temporary protection (Chapter III)
Article 8 provides for the issuing of residence permits and assistance with the issuing of visas , Article 9 foresees the issuing of documents in a language that is understandable for the group of people concerned and Article 10 for the registration of these persons by the host Member State. Article 11 makes it clear that these persons cannot travel from one Member State to another at will, unless there is bilateral agreement on this subject. According to Article 12, temporarily admitted refugees are in principle to be allowed to work as an employed or self- employed person and to have access to vocational training ; however, the member states are free to grant refugees access to the labor market only as a subordinate priority , as is practiced in Germany, for example, in the form of priority checks . According to Article 13, the Member States must provide for adequate accommodation and livelihoods for refugees; They also have to provide unaccompanied minors and persons who have suffered torture or rape or other serious forms of emotional, psychological or sexual violence with the necessary medical and other support. Article 14 states that refugee minors are to be given access to the education system in the same way as natives. Article 15 states that the reunification of families must be made possible and can only be refused in exceptional cases and that the best interests of the child must be taken into account. Article 16 regulates the representation and protection of unaccompanied refugee minors.
Access to regular asylum procedures (Chapter IV)
According to Articles 17 to 19, refugees enjoying temporary protection must have access to the regular asylum procedure at all times.
Return of the refugees affected and measures after protection has expired (Chapter V)
Articles 20 to 22 provide protection for people who return voluntarily and stipulate that a forced return after the expiry of the protection takes place while preserving human dignity . According to Article 23, people have the right to an extension of stay after their protection has expired if they cannot reasonably be expected to travel in view of their state of health. In addition, the member state concerned can extend their stay if they have underage children until they have completed their school year.

Article 28 allows Member States to exclude persons from temporary protection if they pose a threat to internal security , are suspected of having been guilty of war crimes or crimes against humanity, or have committed acts that are in accordance with the aims of the United Nations Nations oppose. The principle of proportionality must be taken into account.

Comparison of temporary protection with other forms of asylum

In comparison to the regular asylum according to the Geneva Convention ( convention refugee ) and the beneficiary of subsidiary protection , both of which require a detailed assessment of the individual case - with regard to personal impact of "persecution" or "serious damage" in the event of deportation - the focus of temporary protection is to give protection to the group of people concerned as quickly and as unbureaucratically as possible. Access to the labor market and to educational measures is also enabled from the outset and no obligation to stay in a reception center or refugee accommodation is imposed. However, the protection does not offer a long-term perspective, as it is limited to one to two or a maximum of three years in total and it can also be terminated at any time by the European Council. The directive thus provides the Member States with a basis for a rapid response to a crisis that involves the migration or evacuation of large numbers of people.

implementation

Great Britain did not make use of the possibility of exempting itself from the application of this Directive based on Article 3 of the Protocol on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community . The Directive initially did not apply to Ireland; by Commission Decision 2003/690 / EC it applies to Ireland. Denmark, on the other hand, does not participate in the directive.

In Germany, the guideline was implemented by § 24 AufenthG . It was implemented when the Immigration Act came into force on January 1, 2005. The Residence Act introduced with Article 1 of the Immigration Act replaced the former Aliens Act of 1990 and regulates the stay of third countries, i.e. foreigners who are not citizens of an EU, with effect from January 1, 2005 -Member have.

Reform efforts

In May 2015, the news portal DiePresse.com reported that the EU Commission was preparing a legislative proposal to change this directive and to set up a mandatory, permanent system for the relocation of those in need of protection in the EU in the event of a mass influx. The distribution should take into account the economic output according to the gross domestic product, the size of the population, the unemployment rate and the number of previous asylum seekers.

application

The guideline has not yet been applied (as of December 2015).

In 2011, EPP MEPs from Italy and Malta called for the solidarity mechanism of the directive to be activated in view of the number of civil war refugees in Malta and Italy. In a resolution drawn up by the European Parliament in 2012 , reference was made to this directive to justify greater EU internal solidarity in the asylum area.

In view of the refugee crisis in Europe , the EGP referred to this directive in connection with the demand for safe and legal ways of entering the EU ; the ALDE demanded that refugees should be able to apply already in UN refugee camps in third countries temporary protection. In September 2015, MEPs from the GUE / NGL Group tabled a motion for a resolution calling for "the temporary protection directive (2001/55 / ​​EC) to be implemented without delay in view of the current influx of refugees".

In this context, scientists, representatives of research institutions and party politicians in Europe pointed to the possibility of viewing the Syria crisis as a case for the application of Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC, but stated that the necessary EU decision was not in sight.

One of the reasons given against activating this directive in the 2015 refugee crisis was that this instrument offered no additional value in the case of migration made up of both displaced persons and economic refugees and a measure such as relocation programs based on the Lisbon Treaty with the resettlement of Refugee seekers from Greece and Italy in other EU countries is preferable. In addition, the directive can be seen as a pull factor . On the other hand, the pro-arguments for activating the directive include, among other things, the possibility of family reunification and the relief of the asylum system and the associated social security systems resulting from employment.

See also

Legal sources

literature

  • B. Spindler: Temporary Protection - Populist Buzzword & EU Directive . In: asyl auf Zeit, asyl aktuell 3/2015 , Asylkoordination Österreich. Pp. 16-21. - With a detailed description of the background and the reasons why the application of this guideline was not sought in 2015 in the impending refugee crisis.
  • A. Schmidt: The forgotten Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC for the case of a mass influx of displaced persons as a solution to the current refugee crisis. In: ZAR 2015, pp. 205–212 (available from Juris ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SVR urges a stronger Europeanization of refugee protection. In: SVR Recommendation No. 4. Expert Council of German Foundations for Integration and Migration , September 15, 2015, accessed on December 13, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Temporary protection. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), archived from the original on December 22, 2015 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bamf.de
  3. ↑ a b Bernhard Spindler: Temporary Protection - Populist Keyword & EU Directive . In: asyl auf Zeit, asyl aktuell 3/2015 , Asylkoordination Österreich. Pp. 16-21.
  4. ↑ Marcus Engler, Jan Schneider: German asylum policy and EU refugee protection within the framework of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). focus Migration Policy Brief. Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) at the University of Osnabrück, May 29, 2015, accessed on December 12, 2015 .
  5. ^ Marianne Haase, Jan C. Jugl: Asylum and refugee policy of the EU. Federal Agency for Civic Education, November 27, 2007, accessed on December 12, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Sergio Carrera, Thierry Balzacq: Security Versus Freedom? A Challenge for Europe's Future . Ashgate Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-9580-2 , pp. 47–49 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  7. ↑ Decision of the Commission of October 2, 2003 on Ireland's application for the adoption of Council Directive 2001/55 / ​​EC on minimum standards for the granting of temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and measures to promote a fair distribution of the burdens associated with admission of these persons and the consequences of this inclusion, on the member states. 2003/690 / EC. Announced under document number K (2003) 3428 (eur-lex.europa.eu).
  8. ↑ Temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons , accessed December 12, 2015
  9. ↑ Wolfram Molitor: Administrative regulation (excerpt). On § 24 - Granting of residence for temporary protection. www.migrationsrecht.net, accessed on December 12, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Commission wants to divide refugees in the event of a mass influx. DiePresse.com, May 11, 2015, accessed on December 13, 2015 .
  11. ↑ EU for the return of refugees from Tunisia. EurActiv, 31 May 2011, accessed 13 December 2015 .
  12. ↑ Resolution of the European Parliament of 11 September 2012 on increased EU internal solidarity in the asylum area (2012/2032 (INI)). European Parliament, September 11, 2012, accessed December 12, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Where are the European parties in the refugee crisis? www.foederalist.eu, November 10, 2015, accessed on December 13, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Motion for a resolution B8-0835 / 2015 of 7 September 2015, tabled following statements by the Council and the Commission under Rule 123 (2) of the Rules of Procedure on migration and the situation of refugees (2015/2833 (RSP)). European Parliament, 7 September 2015, accessed on 13 December 2015 .
  15. ↑ Christine Langenfeld , Heinz Faßmann : Guest contribution: Refugees. Control and protect. FAZ, November 12, 2015, accessed on December 12, 2015 . ; Views of the political groups in the European Parliament on migration and displacement. (No longer available online.) European Salon, formerly the original ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / publixphere.net   ; Steffen Angenendt, Jan Schneider: EU Asylum Policy: Creating Fair Collective Admission Procedures. Science and Politics Foundation , May 12, 2015, accessed on December 12, 2015 . ; Resolution of the FDP Presidium: Perspectives for the Protection of War Refugees. www.liberale.de, October 26, 2015, accessed December 12, 2015 . ; Perspectives for the Protection of War Refugees. (No longer available online.) In: Decision of the Presidium of the FDP, Berlin. October 26, 2015, archived from the original on December 21, 2015 ; accessed on December 13, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Cornelia Ernst : The irony of emergencies. Die Linke in the European Parliament, March 31, 2012, accessed on December 12, 2015 . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fdp.de