European interior and justice ministers meeting in Stockholm on July 16 agreed to boost funding for Greece and other member states guarding the EU’s external border and called on Turkey, as an EU candidate state, to co-operate with the bloc’s efforts to curb illegal immigration, Greek daily Kathimerini said on July 17 2009.
 
A statement by the EU Presidency said that the informal meeting in Stockholm had agreed that asylum seekers should be treated in the same way, irrespective of which EU country receives their application for asylum.
 
The ministers for migration discussed how the differences in asylum practice within the EU can be evened out.
 
"Today, which member state the asylum seeker applies to often has more influence on the process than his or her grounds for protection," the EU Presidency statement said.
 
"There was considerable agreement at the meeting that practical co-operation must be strengthened.
 
"A starting point must be to ensure asylum seekers, as far as possible, receive the same reception and have their applications assessed according to the same criteria, irrespective of which member state they arrive in", Sweden’s minister for migration and asylum policy Tobias Billström told a news conference after the meeting. Sweden currently holds the EU Presidency.
 
There was ongoing work to create a common asylum system in the EU, and the Union had made some progress, the EU Presidency said.
 
"However, many questions remain to be solved," the statement said.
 
At their meeting, the ministers for migration discussed the issue of solidarity and the division of responsibility both among member states and between the EU and countries outside the Union.
 
"It can be about showing solidarity with Member States and countries outside the EU that are experiencing heavy pressure in the area of migration.
 
"The ministers also want to see greater dialogue with countries outside the EU about the connection between migration and development, for example when it comes to supporting expansion of knowledge and capacity."
 
Jacques Barrot, European Commission Vice-President emphasised at the news conference the importance of getting a common European asylum system into place by 2012 at the latest.
 
"Such a system is not just empty words. It can help us receive those who genuinely need support," Barrot said.
 
Kathimerini said that the summit had reached some discouraging conclusions.
 
"The revision of the Dublin Regulation, which stipulates that migrants apply for asylum in the first EU member state they enter and has resulted in disproportionate pressure on Greece and other southern EU states, will not be considered until 2014. The decision to postpone tweaking the regulation, which has been the subject of widespread criticism, has driven a wedge between southern and northern EU member states," the Greek daily said.
 
Greek interior minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos emphasised to his EU counterparts that guarding the bloc’s borders was an EU affair, not a purely Greek problem and to demand the cooperation of Turkey as a key transit state.
 
"If Turkey fails to take action it becomes a haven for traffickers and a gathering point for illegal immigrants," Pavlopoulos said.