Major developments in asylum in the European Union in 2019

• Pages: 24-42

Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union

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Section 2. Major developments in asylum in the

European Union in 2019

Section 2 presents an overview of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and the latest

developments in its evolution. It covers key asylum-related legislative and policy developments at

the EU level, the implementation of EU policy initiatives under the European Agenda on Migration

and an overview of jurisprudence by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in t he area of

international protection. Issues related to managing migration and asylum remained high on the

EU policy agenda, and progress was achieved in many areas of practical cooperation across EU+

countries in 2019.

2.1 The Common European Asylum System and current issues

Background

The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is a legal and policy framework developed to guarantee

harmonised and uniform standards for people seeking international protection in the EU. It is based

on an understanding that the EU, an area of open borders and freedom of movement where countries

share the same fundamental values, needs to have a common approach to implement transparent,

effective and equitable procedures.65 C EAS emphasises a shared responsibility to process applicants

for international protection in a dignified manner, ensuring fair treatment and similar procedures in

examining cases, irrelevant of the country where the application is lodged.66 At its core, CEAS aims to

achieve:

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Within the context of CEAS, the Tampere Declaration set out the foundation for a comprehensive

approach to migration by addressing political, human rights and developmental issues in countries

and regions of origin and t ransit.68 Through t his agreement with governments, legislative and policy

measures were adopted at the EU level to set a framework to manage high influxes of displaced

persons by accommodating persons in need of protection while supporting Member States

experiencing pressure on their asylum systems.69

A clear and functional process to determine which country

is responsible for examining an application for protection;

A set of common standards to inform fair and efficient

asylum procedures;

A set of common minimum conditions for the dignified

reception of applicants for protection; and

Convergence on the criteria for granting protection statuses and

for the content of protection associated with those statuses.

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CEAS

EASO Asylum Report 2020

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After the first phase (from 1999 to 20 05), Member States reflected on the functioning of CEAS and

implemented improvements to the five legislations that govern the minimum standards of the

European asylum system:70

Recast Asylum Procedures Directive;71

Recast Reception Conditions Directive;72

Recast Qualification Directive;73

Recast Dublin III Regulation;74 and

Recast Eurodac Regulation.75

The increased に and often uneven に pressure that national asylum and reception systems in EU+

countries faced since 2015 presented both a challenge and an opportunity for EU+ c ountries to take

bold steps toward systemic and commonly-agreed solutions for further harmonisation, on t he basis

of solidarity and responsibility-sharing. A bove all, it underlined the importance o f the very existence

of CEAS and a common migration policy に to have an EU-wide framework to manage mixed migratory

flows,iv including border management, international protection and the return of rejected applicants.

In the EU context, mixed migratory flows are defined as "complex migratory population movements,

including refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants and other types of migrants as opposed to

migratory population movements that consist entirely of one category of migrants".

Towards the reform of the Common European Asylum System

Source: EASO.

iv Definition provided in the EMN Glossary: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-

do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/mixed-migration-flow_en

2000

1999

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2008

2007

Foundation of the CEAS and

comprehensive approach to migration

Functioning of the

Common European Asylum System

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2009

2010

2011

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Towards a reform

of the CEAS

Framework for the interoperability

of EU information systems