BRUSSELS - The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday presented proposals to reform the Common European Asylum System by creating a fairer, more efficient and more sustainable system for allocating asylum applications among European Union (EU)  member states.
According to the Commission, the basic principle will remain the same - asylum seekers should, unless they have family elsewhere, apply for asylum in the first country they enter - but a new fairness mechanism will ensure no member state is left with a disproportionate pressure on its asylum system.
The proposals also included transforming the existing European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a fully-fledged EU Agency for Asylum to reflect its enhanced role in the new system and reinforcing of the EU's fingerprinting database, Eurodac, in order to better manage the asylum system and to help tackle irregular migration.
On April 6, the European Commission published a communication which launched the process for a reform of the Common European Asylum System.
According to the Commission, the package of proposals released Wednesday was therefore the first major step in the comprehensive reform of the Common European Asylum System. A second stage of legislative proposals reforming the Asylum Procedures, Qualification Directives, as well as the Reception Conditions Directive- will follow, to ensure the full reform of all parts of the EU asylum system.(Xinhua)