The recast Reception Conditions Directive sets minimum standards for the provision of assistance to asylum applicants across the EU. The revised Directive aims at harmonising reception conditions across the EU and ensures that all EU countries provide adequate living conditions for those seeking international protection.
An adequate standard of living
Under the revised directive, from the moment an application is made, and at each stage of the asylum procedure, all applicants for international protection must have access to adequate living conditions. This includes access to housing, food, clothing, a daily expense allowance, personal hygiene products, and necessary health care services. Applicants are guaranteed access to the labour market within 6 months from the registration of their application for asylum. Access to education must be provided for minors as soon as possible, or at least within 2 months from the moment their application is lodged.
The Directive also introduces increased integration support for applicants, including the obligation to provide access to language courses, civic education, or vocational training courses.
Assessment of special reception needs
Each applicant must also be individually assessed to identify any special reception needs they may have. Such needs may arise, for instance, in the case of minors, unaccompanied minors, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTI+ community, victims of human trafficking and persons with serious illnesses or mental disorders. This assessment must occur within 30 days from the moment the asylum application is made, allowing national authorities to ensure that the needs of each applicant are taken into account. Access to the necessary medical and psychological treatment and care for victims of torture and violence is reinforced.
In order to guarantee access to rights and to safeguard their best interests, unaccompanied minors are assisted by a representative, who is appointed within 15 working days from the moment the asylum application is made. Until a representative is appointed, the authorities will designate a person suitable to provisionally act as a representative. In general, the revised Reception Conditions Directive reinforces guarantees for minors.
Reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions
In order to address abuses of the asylum system, the provision of material reception conditions, such as the daily expense allowance, will be reduced or withdrawn if applicants do not comply with their obligations throughout the asylum procedure.
Any reduction or withdrawal of material reception conditions must be proportionate and justified. When applying these measures, applicants must always be provided with access to health care and basic needs.
Restrictions of freedom of movement, detention and alternatives to detention
Under the revised directive, EU countries may restrict the freedom of movement of applicants where there is a risk that the applicant may abscond, or for reasons of public order. This means that applicants, particularly those who are subject to a transfer to another EU country, may be allowed to reside only in a specific place or accommodation centre. A number of additional measures are also available to Member States to better and flexibly manage their reception systems (e.g. allocating applicants to accommodations or geographical areas, making the provision of material reception conditions subject to actual residence).
Applicants may also be detained on a limited number of grounds, which include, for instance, the protection of national security or public order, ensuring the transfer of the applicant to another EU country when required or in order to prepare for the return of the applicant to their country of origin after their application has been rejected. Detention can only be imposed following an individual assessment of each case, where it is deemed necessary and proportional, and where no other less coercive alternative measure to detention can be applied effectively. Such alternatives to detention may include, for instance, regular reporting to the authorities, the deposit of a financial guarantee, or an obligation to stay at an assigned place. These measures must be laid down in national law. The EUAA offers Guidelines on Alternatives to Detention to support practitioners and national authorities when applying these measures.
Contingency plans
EU countries are also obliged to develop a contingency plan, setting out measures to ensure the adequate reception of applicants in cases where the country is confronted with a disproportionate number of arrivals. This will result in better preparedness across the Union. The EUAA developed a template for contingency plans that Member States have to follow when preparing their national plans.
EUAA guidance on reception conditions: operational standards and indicators
The revised directive further harmonises the reception conditions across the EU by obliging Member States to consider common indicators and guidelines as provided by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). These guidelines describe specific common standards which are applicable to national reception systems across all EU Member States and the indicators with which such standards should be measured against.