mr president as my colleague mrs guillaume said this is a crucial moment in the development of the european asylum system
we have had some real progress in some parts of the package including during the belgian presidency my own report on beneficiaries of international protection but clearly these are just the side elements of the asylum package
it must be stressed today that the procedures recast forms the backbone of the package
it is therefore essential that we move forward on this recast in view of the rapidly approaching twenty twelve deadline for the creation of the common european asylum system
one of the recurring criticisms by member states of the proposed recast of procedures is that it will lead to an unnecessary financial burden on them but there is a significant body of evidence and i pay tribute to what the commission said on the solihull project in the united kingdom that front-loading asylum procedures leads to better decisions at first instance quality decision making is a key element which we must not miss
we therefore want more information from member states backing up their claims
however i would like to stress that this debate should not just be about costs
as mr de jong said the procedures recast is about harmonising practices and raising standards across the eu
it is clear that standards vary too much between member states and the current legal framework needs revising
we know the commission is going to come forward with a revised recast proposal in the coming months in view of the opposition of the council
parliament should put forward a strong position on this matter to ensure that the commission does not water down its original proposal
the right to legal assistance a guarantee of personal interview limitations on the use of accelerated procedures all of these safeguards are essential to a fair and effective asylum system
this goal of achieving a common european asylum system is not a goal that parliament set we all remember in nineteen ninety-nine in tampere that it was the council that set these goals they reset these goals at the hague and at stockholm so let us revise our history and understand that we depend on the council to unblock the system and we will work cooperatively with the hungarian presidency to try and maintain the momentum of the belgian presidency
this is what so many of the members across the party divide want to see we may want to see different outcomes but we will cooperate and let us hope in the hungarian presidency we can see some genuine progress
