The European Commission has failed to agree on a proposed list of "safe countries of origin" from where applications for asylum in the European Union (EU) would be presumed to be unfounded.

European Commission vice president in charge of justice and security affairs, Franco Frattini, tabled a list of eight African countries but failed to win full support of his colleagues.

A commission spokeswoman said the commissioners thought they needed more time to finalize such a list.

Frattini will return in two weeks' time with a new list. This means that a commission decision will miss next Thursday's EU justice ministers' meeting.

"In two weeks' time I will come back to the college (of commissioners) and present a substantial proposal, and I will explain this to ministers next week," he told reporters.

"We are going to review and integrate not only with Africa but with countries from other continents."

The following countries are thought to be on the first draft list: Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal and Tanzania.

The inclusion of Mali created the most obvious division among commissioners as the country still practices female genital mutilation, Frattini confirmed.

Frattini and EU officials regard a common EU list of "safe countries of origin" as vital to avoid "asylum shopping," whether refugees file multiple asylum applications in a bid to find the best regime across the 25 EU member states.

"We need a European list of safe countries," he said.

"In order to avoid asylum shopping we have to have a common list."

Frattini emphasized that any list will not rule out asylum claims from any named safe countries if refugees face "individual persecution and risk."

"There is no contradiction between a safe list and granting refugee status to someone from one of those countries," he said.

Agreement within the commission will be the first step of approval of such a list, which must be approved by all 25 member states and, possibly by the European Parliament.

Source: Xinhua