mr president there is no question but that the asylum package is currently blocked and this is a pity
it is an unfortunate situation and we should all do our best to unblock the situation
i can think of many reasons why the situation is blocked
first of all we seem to have concentrated on new proposals when we all know that there is existing legislation which member states are struggling to implement and this has created an ill-at-ease feeling amongst member states because they are clearly not prepared to move on to new laws when they have difficulties with existing ones
secondly the new proposals feature and envisage new and much higher obligations and burdens which are at times unrealistic especially in the current context and which could also as has been highlighted already lead to abuse that should be avoided
thirdly there is indeed a lack of a financial assessment of a study to determine costs and i am afraid i have to disagree with you commissioner i do not think that the study carried out by the european parliament on burden sharing is about the costs of these proposals
in any case it is a job for the commission to study the financial implications of its own proposals
furthermore there is no proposal on a proper legally binding burden-sharing mechanism and this too creates difficulties for a number of member states and indeed for this parliament
finally the council is still stonewalling on proposals such as the review of the dublin regulation
i am very happy to hear the council say that the presidency will pay close attention to this and increase the efforts to find a solution on the dublin dossier
it is difficult
we are in a difficult situation and we need to get out of it
the epp group is still very much open to cooperating with the council and most importantly with other groups here in parliament to try and reach a compromise that is acceptable for all
