James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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An international protection applicant is someone who has left their country and seeks protection in another country. Seeking protection is a human right and when someone asks for protection at the border of a country, that country’s authorities must examine that application. Ireland, as a party to the Geneva Convention, must also meet this obligation.

It is the case that several EU countries have experienced increases in applications for international protection that are significantly higher than that experienced in Ireland.

The EU Migration and Asylum Pact launched by the European Commission in September 2020 sets out the Commission’s proposals for a comprehensive approach to migration and included five legislative proposals to replace or complement a number of un-adopted 2016 proposals for a new Common European Asylum System. The Pact also includes a number of proposals issued in 2016 to reform the Common European Asylum System many of which the co-legislators have reached agreement on but have not yet been adopted.

One of the critical challenges faced by the EU as a whole, in terms of its asylum and migration management system, is addressing imbalances in migratory pressure across the EU and finding a proper balance between solidarity and responsibility. Therefore, while there is general agreement on some of the proposals, it has not been possible to adopt these measures as there are outstanding issues relating to responsibility and solidarity. 

In January 2022, the French Presidency introduced a gradual approach to progress the outstanding issues in a number of the EU Pact measures.  The first stage of this approach focused mainly on the introduction of a voluntary solidarity mechanism for Member States which are considered to be in need of assistance.

The French Presidency presented a political declaration on the first stage of its Gradual Approach to Ministers at the JHA Council meeting 10 June 2022 and Member States who signed the declaration committed to taking part in a solidarity mechanism to assist other Member States.

The Czech presidency is building on the voluntary relocation mechanism agreed under the French Presidency to advance discussions for a legally binding, mandatory by flexible solidarity mechanism.

Ireland supports the principle of solidarity and we recognise that assistance is required for the Member States who face a disproportionate number of applicants. We agree on the need to have a sustainable, simple and flexible solidarity, which takes into account the situation in the contributing Member State and would not place a burden on their asylum and reception systems.