30/04/2024, 07:22 Common European Asylum System - European Commission

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Migration and Home Affairs

Common European Asylum System

The European Union is an area of protection for people fleeing persecution or serious harm in their country of
origin.

Asylum is a fundamental right and an international obligation for countries, as recognised in the 1951 Geneva
Convention on the protection of refugees.

In the EU, an area of open borders and freedom of movement, member countries share the same fundamental
values and joint approach to guarantee high standards of protection for refugees.

EU countries have a shared responsibility to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner, ensuring that they are
treated fairly and their case is examined following uniform standards. This ensures that, no matter where an
applicant applies, the outcome will be similar. Procedures must be fair, effective throughout the EU, and impervious
to abuse.

However, asylum flows are not constant, nor are they evenly distributed across the EU. They have, for example,
variated from over 1.8 million in 2015 to around 142,000 in 2019, a decrease of 92%.

With this in mind, since 1999, the EU has established a Common European Asylum System (CEAS). In 2020,
the European Commission proposed to reform the system through a comprehensive approach to migration and
asylum policy based on three main pillars:

efficient asylum and return procedures,

solidarity and fair share of responsibility and

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strengthened partnerships with third countries.

Legislation and agency support

The Common European Asylum System sets out common standards and co-operation to ensure that asylum
seekers are treated equally in an open and fair system – wherever they apply. The system is governed by five
legislative instruments and one agency:

The Asylum Procedures Directive aims at setting out the conditions for fair, quick and quality asylum
decisions. Asylum seekers with special needs receive the necessary support to explain their claim and in
particular protection of unaccompanied minors and victims of torture is ensured.
The Reception Conditions Directive ensures that common standards for reception conditions (such as
housing, food and clothing and access to health care, education or employment under certain conditions) are
provided for asylum seekers across the EU to ensure a dignified standard of living in accordance with the
Charter of fundamental rights.
The Qualification Directive clarifies the grounds for granting international protection and therefore making
asylum decisions more robust. It also provides access to rights and integration measures for beneficiaries of
international protection.
The Dublin Regulation enhances the protection of asylum seekers during the process of establishing the
State responsible for examining the application, and clarifies the rules governing the relations between states.
It creates a system to detect early problems in national asylum or reception systems and address their root
causes before they develop into fully fledged crises.
The EURODAC Regulation (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/AUTO/?uri=CELEX:32013R0603) supports the determination
of the Member State responsible under the Dublin Regulation and allows law enforcement authorities access
to the EU database of the fingerprints of asylum seekers under strictly limited circumstances in order to
prevent, detect or investigate the most serious crimes, such as murder, and terrorism.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (https://www.euaa.europa.eu/) contributes to improving the functioning and
implementation of the Common European Asylum System. It provides operational and technical assistance to
Member States in the assessment of applications for international protection across Europe.

Towards a reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS)

1999 – 2005

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Creation of first laws

In 1999, the European Council committed to work towards establishing a

Common European Asylum System, based on the full and inclusive application of

the Geneva Convention.

The commitments undertaken under the Tampere Programme heralded the

beginning of the Common European Asylum System and led to the adoption of
several EU laws.

Between 1999 and 2005, six legislative instruments establishing minimum

standards for asylum were adopted: the Eurodac Regulation, the Temporary
Protection Directive, the Reception of Asylum Seekers Directive, the Dublin
Regulation replacing the 1990 Dublin Convention, the Qualification Directive and

the Asylum Procedures Directive.

2008 – 2013

First reforms

After the completion of the first phase, a period of reflection was necessary to

determine the direction in which the CEAS should develop. The situation across
EU Member States was still too varied and the levels of protection still not strong
enough. This led to the European Commission’s Policy Plan on Asylum presented

in June 2008, which set the basis for building a system of common and uniform
standards for protection.

Along with the Plan, the Commission presented a set of reformed EU asylum
laws, which were completed in 2013. Among the novelties, the European Asylum

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Support Office was established specifically to assist Member States in

implementing EU asylum law and to enhance the practical cooperation.

From 2015 onwards

New challenges and reforms

In 2015, the unprecedented high number of arrivals of refugees and irregular

migrants in the EU exposed a series of deficiencies and gaps in Union policies on

asylum. Therefore, the European Commission proposed in May and July 2016 a
third package of seven pieces of legislation with the aim to move towards a fully

efficient, fair and humane asylum policy which can function effectively also in
times of high migratory pressure.

In 2017, the European Parliament and the Council reached a broad political
agreement on five out of the seven proposals, namely as regards the setting-up

of a fully-fledged European Union Asylum Agency, the reform of Eurodac, the

review of the Reception Conditions Directive, the Qualification Regulation, and the
EU Resettlement framework. However, the Council did not reach a common

position on the reform of the Dublin system and the Asylum Procedure
Regulation. While in 2020 the Commission is proposing amendments to some of

these proposals, it has been supporting a quick adoption of the proposals on

which a political agreement has been reached by the co-legislators. These

proposals include:

The Qualification Regulation

Replacing the Qualification Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU) with a regulation, aims at achieving more convergence
in asylum decision-making. The regulation would change current optional rules providing common criteria for
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recognising asylum applicants to obligatory rules, by further clarifying and specifying the content of international
protection, in particular regarding the duration of residence permits and social rights, and by establishing rules
aimed at preventing unauthorised movements.

By replacing the Qualification Directive with a regulation, protection standards will be harmonised across the EU,
by creating greater convergence of recognition rates and forms of protection. The new regulation will introduce
stricter rules sanctioning unauthorised movements and strengthening integration incentives for beneficiaries of
international protection. The new regulation will clarify the criteria for granting international protection in particular
by making the application of the internal protection alternative compulsory for Member States as part of the
assessment of the application for international protection. The content of protection will also clarify the rights and
obligation of the beneficiary of international protection.

A recast Reception Conditions Directive

The Reception Conditions Directive will ensure asylum seekers receive decent conditions throughout the EU, reduce
incentives for abuse and increase the possibility for asylum seekers to be self-reliant.

Member States will be obliged to have contingency plans in place to ensure sufficient reception capacity at all
times, including in times of disproportionate pressure. Asylum seekers will be provided with full reception
conditions only in the Member State responsible for their asylum application. This will help prevent asylum seekers
from travelling from Member State to Member State.

To ensure an efficient procedure, Member States will be able to allocate asylum seekers to a geographical area
within their territory, assign them a place of residence and impose reporting obligations to discourage them from
absconding. Asylum seekers with well-founded claims will be granted the right to work no later than six months
after their application is registered. Minors will receive education within two months after their asylum request is
lodged. Unaccompanied minors will immediately receive assistance and will be appointed a representative no later
than 15 days after an asylum application is made.

A reinforced European Union Asylum Agency

In view of the crucial role the previous Agency - EASO was playing in addressing the migration crisis and its limited
mandate, on 4 May 2016 the Commission presented a new proposal for a European Union Asylum
Agency (https://www.euaa.europa.eu/) (EUAA). Following a political agreement by the co-legislators on this proposal in
2017, the Commission called for a quick adoption of the proposal for the EU Agency on Asylum in the Pact on
Asylum and Migration. Following the successful conclusion of the negotiations with the European Parliament and

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Council, the regulation of the agency was adopted on 15 December 2021 and subsequently entered into force on
19 January 2022.

The EU Asylum Agency replaced the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) with a strengthened mandate. This
represents an important step forward in regards to the Pact on Migration and Asylum as the new mandate
reinforces EUAA’s operational capacity, equipping it with the necessary staff, tools and financial means. The
operational support of EUAA is critical in strengthening the European asylum system to ensure that asylum
decisions are taken in a fast and fair manner, with the same high quality everywhere in Europe, bringing Member
States’ asylum systems closer to each other.

An EU Resettlement Framework
An EU Resettlement Framework would establish a permanent framework with a unified procedure for resettlement
across the EU. While the Member States will remain the ones deciding on how many people will be resettled each
year, by coordinating national efforts and acting as a whole, the EU will have a greater impact and will be able to
contribute collectively and with one single voice to global resettlement efforts.

In 2018, the Commission also proposed a recast of the Return Directive in response to the existing obstacles to an
effective return policy. The recast aims at making the EU rules fit for purpose in successfully addressing the risk of
absconding, providing assistance to voluntary returns, ensuring proper monitoring of national procedures, and
streamlining administrative and judicial procedures. In 2019, the Council reached a partial general approach on the
text, except regarding the border procedure for returns. In the European Parliament, work to reach a negotiation
mandate continues.

Pact on Migration and Asylum

In September 2020, the Commission adopted a New Pact on Migration and Asylum , containing a number of
solutions through new legislative proposals and amendments to pending proposals to put in place a system that is
both humane and effective, representing an important step forward in the way the Union manages migration.

Related news
2020 New Pact on Migration and Asylum
2019 European Agenda on Migration (/error/404_en)
2019 European Agenda on Migration (/error/404_en)

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Asylum procedures (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-

asylum-system/asylum-procedures_en)

The Asylum Procedures Directive creates a coherent system to ensure

that decisions on applications for international protection are taken
efficiently and fairly.

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Temporary protection (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-

asylum-system/temporary-protection_en)

Temporary protection is an exceptional measure to provide immediate

and temporary protection to displaced persons from non-EU countries.

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Who qualifies for international

protection (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-asylum-system/who-
qualifies-international-protection_en)

The Qualification Directive sets out criteria for applicants to qualify for
refugee status or subsidiary protection status and the rights of people
afforded this status.

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Reception conditions (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-

asylum-system/reception-conditions_en)

The Reception Conditions Directive aims at ensuring common standards

of reception conditions throughout the EU.

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Country responsible for asylum application

(Dublin) (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-asylum-system/country-
responsible-asylum-application-dublin-regulation_en)

The objective of the Dublin III Regulation is to ensure quick access to

the asylum procedures and the examination of an application on the
basis by a single EU country.

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Statistics (/policies/migration-and-asylum/common-european-asylum-
system/statistics_en)

Learn how EU agencies are collecting and presenting regular updates of

data on migration across EU countries.

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European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA)

(/agencies_en#ecl-inpage-788)

The European Union Agency for Asylum contributes to the

implementation of the Common European Asylum System.

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