Asylum in the EU

Asylum is a fundamental right and an international obligation for countries, as recognised in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees. EU Member States have a shared responsibility to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner, ensuring that they are treated fairly and that their case is examined following uniform standards. Procedures must be fair, effective, and impervious to abuse.

The Pact on Migration and Asylum provides the EU with the legal framework and tools to enhance the effective management of its external borders, and set up fast and efficient procedures for asylum and returns, while ensuring strong safeguards. It puts in place a fair and effective system of solidarity and responsibility to manage migration in the EU. 

The successful adoption of this reform reflects the collective commitment of the EU and its Member States to find solutions to common challenges, with reinforced mutual trust, and to provide for a common approach to asylum and migration across all EU countries. Adopting a uniform approach to asylum applications ensures that, no matter where an applicant applies, the outcome will be similar, and the same rights and obligations will apply throughout the EU. 

The Asylum Procedure

The Asylum Procedure Regulation provides for a common, fair and efficient procedure for handling asylum applications. The Regulation introduces simpler, clearer procedures and sets new deadlines for each stage of the asylum procedure. In most cases, a decision on an asylum application should be made within six months from the moment it is lodged. In certain cases, an application for international protection may be examined within three months under an accelerated procedure. 

Applicants must also respect certain obligations throughout the procedure. Applicants need to cooperate fully with the authorities throughout the procedure and remain in the country they have been directed to stay in by the authorities. 

Throughout the process, asylum seekers have access to important guarantees that safeguard their rights. These include:  

• A personal interview on either the admissibility or substantive elements of the application (limited exceptions), as well as access to interpreters and, if applicable, cultural mediators;  
• Information on their rights and obligations during the procedure, as well as on the consequences of not complying with those obligations; 
• Free legal counselling during the administrative stage of the procedure upon request by the applicant (limited exceptions); 
• Free legal assistance and representation during the appeal upon the request of the applicant (limited exceptions);
• Assessment of applicants’ needs for special procedural guarantees. 

Special protection is provided for minors and unaccompanied minors, including:  

• The opportunity to have a personal interview where it is in the best interests of the minor;  
• The appointment of a representative to assist the unaccompanied minor with the registration (including when providing biometric data) and lodging of their application;
• An age assessment which is to be conducted by way of a multidisciplinary assessment. A medical assessment for this purpose may only be used as a measure of last resort.

Stricter rules are also set out in the Regulation to prevent abuse of the asylum system. Where an applicant fails to comply with their obligations or refuses to cooperate with the authorities, their application will be considered implicitly withdrawn. Once an applicant receives a final decision on their application, if they make another application in any EU country, this will be considered a ‘subsequent application’ and will impact the admissibility of their application or the procedure to which they are subject. 

Closer ties between the asylum and return procedures are also ensured. Negative asylum decisions are issued jointly with return decisions or shortly thereafter, while appeals against both decisions are handled within the same timeframe. 

The Border Procedures

The EU has introduced border procedures for efficient management of both asylum applications and return processes.

The Asylum Border Procedure: 

The asylum border procedure applies to applicants who have not yet been authorised to enter the territory. This procedure is mandatory in the following cases: 

• When applicants mislead the authorities;
• When applicants are considered a danger to national security or public order;
• When applicants come from a non-EU country with a low international protection rate (20% or less).

The procedure lasts 12 weeks, from the moment the asylum application is registered until the person no longer has the right to remain nor is allowed to remain. The 12-week procedure also includes the administrative decision and possible appeal against it.

The implementation of the border procedure depends on the adequate capacity to process asylum applications and returns. This means that EU countries must have sufficient infrastructure and trained staff to host and examine a given number of applications at any given time. The adequate capacity at EU level is set at 30,000 places. The Commission sets the adequate capacity for all EU countries every three years through an Implementing Act. The first Implementing Act was adopted on 12 August 2024. EU countries also need to take relevant measures to restrict freedom of movement in order not to authorise entry in the territory while applicants are in the border procedure. 

The Return Border Procedure:  

Applicants whose asylum claims are rejected, are transferred to the return border procedure for a maximum of 12 weeks. 

Detention may be imposed as a last resort if an applicant:  

• No longer has the right to remain in the territory;  
• Poses a risk of absconding or hindering the return process; 
• Poses a risk to national security.   

Who qualifies for international protection in the EU?

The Qualification Regulation sets out the criteria for applicants to qualify for refugee status or subsidiary protection status and sets out the rights afforded to those who have been granted one of these statuses. With this Regulation, the EU aims to ensure consistent criteria for granting international protection across the EU and harmonise the rights and benefits that come with international protection, including the standardised duration of residence permits and equal access to social rights. 

Refugee status: 

Refugee status means the recognition by an EU country of a third-country national or a stateless person as a refugee. Such individuals can qualify for refugee status if they are unable to return to their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on: 

• Race;  
• Religion;  
• Nationality; 
• Political opinion; 
• Membership of a particular social group.   

Stateless applicants qualify for refugee status when they cannot return to their country of former habitual residence for the same reasons.  

Subsidiary protection:

Subsidiary protection status means the recognition by an EU country of a third-country national or a stateless person as a person eligible for subsidiary protection. This status is granted to individuals who do not qualify as refugees, but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that they would face a real risk of serious harm in their home country (or country of former habitual residence in the case of stateless people). 

Serious harm includes: 

• The death penalty or execution;  
• Torture or inhuman or degrading treatment;  
• A serious and individual threat to their life due to indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict.  

Applicants who are granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status are referred to as beneficiaries of international protection. In the EU country that has granted them protection, beneficiaries will have access to:  

• Healthcare;  
• Family unity;  
• Residence in the EU country that granted protection and the right to travel;
• Employment;  
• Procedures for recognition of qualifications and validation of skills; 
• Education (for minors);  
• Social security and social assistance (conditional upon participation in free of charge integration measures);  
• Accommodation;
• Integration measures, in particular language courses, civic orientation, integration programmes and vocational training.  

The Qualification Regulation also provides the grounds for exclusion and cessation of international protection, as well as the withdrawal of international protection status. 

Where the state is not the actor of persecution or serious harm, the determining authority should examine whether an internal protection alternative exists, meaning that the applicant can safely and legally travel to a part of the country of origin where they will have access to effective protection against persecution or serious harm.