
European Parliament asks member states to grant protection to Edward Snowden - choult
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/europe-has-voted-to-offer-edward-snowden-asylum--W1eMqoEsDOe
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celticninja
Misleading title. They have voted for a. Non binding resolution agreeing that
he should not be extradited from the EU. It is a far cry from asylum.

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matt4077
It is obviously far less than what the title implies or what (some) people
would like. But the power of parliament's non-binding resolutions to define
the debate shouldn't be underestimated.

The Parliament has, in the last 10 years and especially under its current
President Schulz redefined the balance of power vis-a-vis the Commission and
the Council. One prominent recent example was the so-called "Spitzenkandidat-
System" whereby the parties nominate a candidate for the Commission presidency
and then whichever party wins the most seats in parliament gets its nominee
appointed.

Note that there were no laws mandating such a system and that it was actively
opposed by quite a few powerful people and institutions, such as Chancellor
Merkel.But Schulz et al did an excellent job of (a) exploiting parliament's
democratic legitimacy as the only elected EU body and (b) showing the heads of
states some fine instruments by which Parliament could have stalled the
agenda.

Sorry for the wall of text. tl/dr: the EU parliament has acquired an aura that
makes even non-binding resolutions much more relevant than, say, a few op-eds
or press releases.

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teh_klev
Relevant seeing as the 'i' didn't link to it (third paragraph):

[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-
room/content/2015...](http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-
room/content/20151022IPR98818/html/Mass-surveillance-EU-citizens%27-rights-
still-in-danger-says-Parliament)

Discussion here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172)

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stevetrewick
_>...asked member states to grant him protection from extradition_

Incredibly misleading. Key word there is "asked". The EU Parliament has no
power to compel such, nor indeed can it pass legislation by itself.

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pluckytree
So, who wants to volunteer to lose all trade with the United States?

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pjc50
The EU is not a country and has no power to offer anyone asylum.

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matt4077
Asylum is within the jurisdiction of the European Union, which, for example
established minimum standards for the asylum process in 2004. These rights can
and have been held up by the courts. In this regard, the European Union has
created the law that "offers people asylum" even if the executive individual
decisions are left to the member states.

There's also the Dublin Agreement which (even if it's falling apart right now
for practical reasons) is in principle applicable, binding law.

So, no, the EU isn't going grant Snowden asylum. But it is certainly a major
player in refugee law.

