By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Asylum proposals: On the table

Ministers from member states are meeting on Tuesday to try to agree a pan-EU asylum policy.

But Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says the proposals may breach international law.

One refugee agency claims the UK government is urging EU partners to lower standards of treatment.

EU members are committed to harmonising asylum laws, with countries most affected by the recent growth in applicants leading the debate.

Proposals on the table

According to the draft proposals, interior and justice ministers from across the EU are considering tough new criteria on how people can seek refugee status.

There is no need to focus so single-mindedly on reducing standards and trying to deter or deny protection to as many people as possible Ruud Lubbers

One of the proposals thought to be on the table on Tuesday is a Europe-wide list of countries which are considered safe, from which asylum seekers are presumed not to be genuine.

The UK's version of the list, already in force, has been attacked for including countries with poor human rights records.

The UNHCR warns further proposals could lead to the deportation of applicants to countries they may have travelled through without considering whether they would be at risk. Rejected asylum seekers may also face deportation before an appeal is heard.

Mr Lubbers said the EU proposals flew in the face of commitments made by the member states to protect the right to seek asylum while they harmonised national policies.

He said: "The numbers of asylum seekers coming into the EU has dropped sharply and is continuing to do so.

"There is no need to focus so single-mindedly on reducing standards and trying to deter or deny protection to as many people as possible."

'Experts ignored'

Campaigners, led by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, accused EU members of ignoring recommendations from international experts.

Daphne Bouteillet Paquet, of Amnesty, said: "We have no option but to call on the EU to scrap this proposal which has been shaped in reaction to populist pressures and fears whipped up about a non-existent flood of refugees into the EU.

"We no longer regard this proposal as credible."

The countries believed to be pushing for a tightening of rules include the UK, Germany and Austria, say campaigners.

'Driving down standards'

Maeve Sherlock of the Refugee Council said: "The UK Government is playing a central role in driving down standards across Europe.

"It is pushing for some of the most controversial aspects of legislation currently making its way through Parliament in Britain to be incorporated into a common European system."

But a spokesman for the Home Office denied the charge, saying the UK government is working with EU partners to create a fair asylum system.

A vigorous effort is being made to conclude negotiations with a directive which will reflect the needs of member states and improve the position of refugees Home Office spokesman

"At the same time, it is essential that the Directive should allow Member States to respond to their particular asylum difficulties," added the spokesman.

"The UK is currently carrying out important reforms of the domestic asylum system which must be reflected in the [proposed] directive.

"A vigorous effort is being made to conclude negotiations with a directive which will reflect the needs of member states and improve the position of refugees."