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RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBS #1853/01 3401618
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051618Z DEC 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS PREL PREF SMIG KCRM EUN
SUBJECT: EU COUNTRIES PLEDGE TO TAKE IN SOME 10,000 IRAQI REFUGEES 
 
REF: BRUSSELS 1538 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  EU ministers in the November 27 JHA Council pledged to take in, 
"as a signal of solidarity, up to around" 10,000 Iraqi refugees in 
particularly vulnerable situations.  Reception will take place on a 
voluntary basis, taking account of the capacities of the individual 
Member States and of "the overall effort already made in terms of 
taking in refugees."  Ministers also formally decided to lift 
controls at land borders between Switzerland and its EU neighbors on 
December 12, 2008; the lifting of controls at air borders will 
follow on March 29, thus completing Switzerland's accession to the 
Schengen area.  Among other migration-related issues, the Council 
adopted conclusions on the implementation of the EU's "global 
approach" but failed to extend the possibility of obtaining 
long-term resident status to beneficiaries of international 
protection.  Full text of the Council conclusions will be published 
on the EU Council website (http://consilium.europa.eu). 
 
IRAQI REFUGEES 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot reported to EU Home 
Affairs/Immigration  ministers in the November 27 JHA Council on the 
findings of a recent Commission/UNHCR mission in Syria and Jordan to 
assess the situation of Iraqi refugees and prospects for their 
resettlement in EU countries.  Following luncheon discussions that 
involved many delegations according to EU sources, the Council 
adopted conclusions calling on Member States, "as a signal of 
solidarity, to take in Iraqi refugees in a particularly vulnerable 
situation such as those with particular medical needs, trauma or 
torture victims, members of religious minorities or women on their 
own with family responsibilities." 
 
¶3.   French Immigration and Integration Minister/Council chair Brice 
Hortefeux told a joint press conference with Vice-President Barrot 
that reception would take place on a voluntary basis.  The Council 
conclusions also said that reception by the individual EU countries 
would take place "in the light of the reception capacities of Member 
States and the overall effort already made in terms of taking in of 
refugees."  Taking account of "the resettlement target set out by 
UNHCR, and taking into account the number of persons already taken 
in or planned to be taken in by Member States, in particular under 
their national resettlement programs, the objective could be to take 
in up to around 10 000 refugees."  The conclusions specified: "In 
taking this approach, Member States should cooperate closely with 
UNHCR and the other competent organizations present in the region. 
They should bear in mind the importance of promoting reconciliation 
between Iraqi communities in Iraq." 
 
¶4.  With this decision, Hortefeux said, the EU "is offering the 
image of a Europe with a capacity of reception, protection and 
generosity."  Hortefeux underlined the difficulty of reaching a 
common stance of the EU countries, also citing demands from the 
Iraqi government that had called on the German authorities earlier 
this year not to encourage migration from Iraq.  Hortefeux explained 
that the Council amended the draft text of its conclusions, which 
included no specific resettlement target and simply mentioned "a 
significant number of refugees."  Hortefeux mentioned that five EU 
delegations in the initially resisted the idea of a precise target 
sought by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Scha|ble (himself 
pressed by the German laender).  The reference to the "reception 
capacities" was meant to meet the problems of heavily-pressed 
migration countris Malta, Cyprus and Greece. 
 
¶5.  Hortefeux an other sources indicated that Germany had signaed 
readiness to take in 2500 refugees.  Hortefeux noted that France was 
currently hosting 488 Iraqi refugees and had previously stated its 
readiness to welcome up to 1000 refugees in 2008 (981 dossiers 
presented).  Barrot and Hortefeux were not in a position to provide 
a full picture of the current situation of Iraqi refugees in the 
EU-27 but Barrot cited the following figures: 600 in the UK, 750 in 
Sweden, 750 in the Netherlands, 380 in Finland and 2000 in Malta. 
Hortefeux and Barrot also mentioned a UNHCR target for resettlement 
of 80,000 over three years, including 20,000 in Europe. 
 
¶6.  The conclusions also recalled that the European Refugee Fund 
provides financial support for resettlement projects.  Barrot noted 
that Member States have until December 19, 2008 to report to the 
Commission on their plans with a view to calculating the allocation 
of EU funding for 2009.  The Commission will report at the beginning 
of 2009 on the information gathered from Member States on the basis 
of the Council conclusions.  Ministers concurred they would have to 
revert to the issue. 
 
SWITZERLAND TO JOIN SCHENGEN AREA 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Ministers decided to lift controls at land borders between 
 
BRUSSELS 00001853  002 OF 002 
 
 
Switzerland and its EU neighbors (except for the border with 
Liechtenstein, for which Switzerland had to put special control 
arrangements in place) on December 12, 2008.  The lifting of 
controls at air borders will follow on March 29, 2009 (coinciding 
with the transition to summer time), thus completing Switzerland's 
accession to the Schengen area. 
 
¶8.  The decision was reached without discussion.  Speaking on the 
sidelines of the meeting, however, EU officials made it clear that 
Switzerland's future in the free-border area would be questioned if 
Swiss citizens were to vote against the principle of free 
circulation in a future referendum.  In the words of Commission 
Vice-President Barrot, "If Switzerland were not to respect the 
principle of free circulation of people or impose restrictions on 
it, that would pose a major problem and we would have to interrupt 
Switzerland's presence in Schengen.  But we have confidence in the 
Swiss people." 
 
OTHER ISSUES 
------------ 
 
¶9.  In other migration/integration related issues, the Council: 
 
--  Endorsed conclusions on implementation of the EU's "Global 
Approach" to the issue of migrations and the development of 
partnerships with countries of origin and transit.  The conclusions, 
which follow up a Commission communication on strengthening the 
approach and will be adopted by EU Foreign Ministers in the December 
8 GAERC, seek to evaluate action to date and to formulate a strategy 
for the future; 
 
--  Minister Hortefeux presented the results of the second 
Euro-African ministerial conference on migration and development, 
held in Paris on November 25; 
 
--  Building on the final declaration approved by the Conference on 
Integration that took place in Vichy on November 3-4, adopted 
conclusions emphasizing the importance attached by the EU to the 
development of a coherent integration policy and identifying a 
series of priority areas for future action, including the "promotion 
of European values," access to employment, the integration of women 
and the education of children; 
 
--  Took stock of progress on a proposal establishing a single 
application procedure for non-EU nationals to reside and work in the 
territory of a Member State and on a common set of rights for non-EU 
nationals legally residing in a Member State.  The proposal, to be 
handled by the upcoming Czech Presidency, is intended to establish a 
"one-stop shop" for non-EU nationals wishing to reside in a Member 
State for the purpose of work; 
 
--  Failed to reach the necessary consensus to amend an existing 
Directive in order to extend the possibility of obtaining long-term 
resident status to beneficiaries of international protection.  The 
Slovenian Presidency failed to record agreement on this proposal 
last June as several countries (Benelux, Finland, Sweden) wanted the 
proposal to cover people benefiting from humanitarian protection. 
Malta is now blocking the draft, arguing that it is facing migratory 
pressure and that any change in the EU legislation would have an 
impact on requirements for obtaining long-term resident status. 
This issue was also deferred to the Czech Presidency; 
 
--  Ministers followed on their September 25 discussions on the 
implications of the "Metock" ruling by the European Court of Justice 
(REFTEL), which had caused fears in Denmark that the ruling could 
encourage migrants to enter the EU by having recourse to false 
marriages.  The Council adopted conclusions tasking the Commission 
to produce guidelines on the implementation of the 2004 EC Directive 
on the free movement of persons, in particular in terms of making 
use of its provisions to combat possible abuses more effectively. 
 
EU "BLUE CARD" SCHEME: ADOPTION DELAYED 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Minister Hortefeux told reporters that the draft Directive 
setting conditions of entry and residence of non-EU nationals for 
the purpose of highly-qualified employment (the EU's "blue card" 
scheme) would be formally adopted by the Council in the early months 
of 2009.  The September 25 JHA Council had reached a 
"quasi-agreement" on the scheme, save for a reservation by the Czech 
delegation that did not want to commit on the date of application of 
the Directive (REFTEL).  Hortefeux and Barrot said the Czechs had 
lifted their reservation but invoked further cleaning of the text to 
explain the delay.  Other sources pointed to a non-binding report by 
the European Parliament seeking clarifications on the "blue card" 
eligibility requirements. 
 
SILVERBERG