EU delays 'asylum-shopper' curbs

Applicants from "safe" countries will not necessarily be denied asylum

The EU's most senior officials have failed to agree on a list of countries from where asylum applications will be presumed to be unfounded.

The proposal was brought before all 25 European commissioners by Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini.

The EU wants to cut down on "asylum shopping", where refugees apply for asylum in countries thought to be more amenable than others.

However, the commissioners could not agree which states to put on the list.

FIRST DRAFT OF THE LIST Benin Botswana Cape Verde Ghana Mali Mauritius Senegal Tanzania EU to help Spain block migrants

But Mr Frattini said he would circulate a new list in two weeks' time, which - if the Commission approved it - could be presented to a summit of EU leaders in mid-June.

Supporters see the policy as a key step towards a common EU immigration asylum policy, which is supposed to take shape by 2010.

Inhumane treatment

Once the list is approved, EU states will be predisposed to regard asylum requests from the countries concerned as unjustified.

However, Mr Frattini said this would not mean that officials would not be obliged to carry out a "case-by-case individual evaluation".

A first draft of the list is reported to have included eight African countries: Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal and Tanzania.

However, Mr Frattini said on Wednesday that Mali would now be dropped because of its practise of female genital mutilation.

He also said that the list would most likely be expanded to include countries in other parts of the world.

They would qualify for the list if they were deemed to be free of persecution, torture or inhumane treatment, Mr Frattini said.

A UK diplomat said the government broadly supported the EU proposal but would not be bound by it.

Britain would retain its opt-out from this area of EU policy.