Policy - fundamental rights

Question 1

Right to Asylum

Answer 1

Asylum is a fundamental right and granting it to people who comply with the criteria set in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees is an international obligation for States parties, which include EU Member States.

The right to asylum is guaranteed by Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Article 19 prohibits collective expulsions and protects individuals from being removed, expelled or extradited to a state where there is a serious risk of death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (principle of non-refoulement).

Neither the TFEU nor the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights provides a definition of the terms ‘asylum’ or ‘refugee’, but both refer explicitly to the Geneva Convention and its Protocol.

Question 2

Qualifying for asylum under EU law

Answer 2

• refugees under 1951 Geneva convention
• beneficiaries of subsidiary protection

Question 3

Common European Asylum System (CEAS)

Answer 3

CEAS consists of several pieces of legislation covering all aspects of the asylum process:

• the “Dublin Regulation”, which determines which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application.
• a directive on asylum procedures that establishes common standards for fair and efficient asylum procedures;
• a directive on reception conditions that establishes minimum common standards for asylum applicants’ living conditions and that ensures that applicants have access to housing, food, employment and health care;
• a directive on qualification that establishes who qualifies as a refugee or a beneficiary of subsidiary protection and that provides a series of rights for beneficiaries (residence permits, travel documents, access to employment and education, social welfare and healthcare).

in 2020: New Pact on Asylum & Migration

Question 4

CEAS phase I

Answer 4

1999-2004:

establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining asylum applications (replacing the international/intergovernmental 1990 Dublin Convention), including the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (Eurodac) for storing and comparing fingerprint data

It also defined common minimum standards to which Member States were to adhere in connection with the reception of asylum seekers, determined qualification criteria for international protection and the nature of the protection granted, and established procedures for granting and withdrawing refugee status. Further legislation covered temporary protection in the event of a mass influx.

Question 5

CEAS second phase

Answer 5

In November 2004, the Hague Programme called for the second-phase instruments and measures to be adopted by the end of 2010

ambition to go beyond minimum standards and develop a single asylum procedure comprising common guarantees and a uniform status for those granted protection

In the 2008 European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, this deadline was postponed to 2012.

Stockholm Programme, adopted by the European Council on 10 December 2009 for the 2010-2014 period, reaffirmed ‘the objective of establishing a common area of protection and solidarity based on a common asylum procedure and a uniform status for those granted international protection’. It emphasised, in particular, the need to promote effective solidarity with those Member States facing particular pressures, and the central role to be played by the new European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

Although the Commission had tabled its proposals for the second phase of the CEAS as early as 2008-2009, negotiations progressed slowly. Accordingly, the ‘second phase’ of the CEAS was adopted following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, with a change of emphasis from minimum standards to a common asylum procedure on the basis of a uniform protection status.