Unaccompanied minors: Member States must follow EU Court jurisprudence
Press release from the ALDE-group in the European Parliament
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Unaccompanied minors: Member States must follow EU Court jurisprudence |
| The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled today that “The Member State responsible for examining an asylum application made in more than one Member State by an unaccompanied minor is the State in which the minor is present after having lodged an application there”, when no member of the minor’s family is legally present in another Member State (Judgment in Case C-648/11).
Cecilia Wikström (Folkpartiet, Sweden), EP rapporteur on establishing the principles determining the country responsible for assessing asylum claims (Dublin III Regulation) said: “Unaccompanied minors should not be treated as a package to be shipped here, there and everywhere, especially in the absence of their family within the EU . This was what we wanted Member States to understand at the time of our negotiations and we welcome that today the EU Court ruled in this sense. We now expect and call on Member states to follow the EU Court jurisprudence“. The Parliament is due to formally adopt the agreement reached with Council on the Asylum package, which includes Ms Wikström’s report, during next week in Strasbourg. The EP rapporteur concluded: “ALDE led the fight to get additional safeguards for unaccompanied minors. We managed to clarify and extend the possibility for reunification, which now also includes legally present siblings, aunts/uncles and grandparents - while under the current provisions, unaccompanied minors could be reunited with unspecified relatives and “if possible” (discretionary clause)”. The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee is now processing a report on the “Situation of unaccompanied minors in the EU” whose rapporteur is the ALDE Member Nathalie Griesbeck (Modem, France) who proposes the establishment of EU guidelines for the reception of unaccompanied minors. |
For more information, please contact:
Linda Aziz, press officer of Cecilia Wikström
linda.aziz@ep.europa.eu
+32 486 94 76 82
