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THE COMMON EUROPEAN ASYLUM SYSTEM ADRIFT
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(CEAS)
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that included the creation of a fairer,
more efficient and more sustainable system for
allocating asylum applications among Member
States”. On 4 May 2016 it presented its propos-
als for the first phase of this initiative, which
entailed the updating of Dublin rules, the rein-
forcement of the EURODAC system and the es-
tablishment of a European Agency for Asylum.
On 13 July of the same year the Commission
released new proposals for the second phase of
the reform process, which included a new regu-
lation covering asylum procedures, the harmo-
nisation of standards for protection and rights
and reception conditions and the creation of a
common EU Resettlement Framework.
On 7 June 2016 the European Commission
and the EU High Representative announced the
launch of the New Migration Partnership
Framework, which was designed to strengthen
cooperation between the EU and countries of
origin and transit (especially those in Africa) and
facilitate joint management of migration issues.
One of the documents revised was the cur-
rent Regulation (UE) No. 604/2013
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establishing
the criteria and mechanisms for determining the
Member State responsible for examining an ap-
plication for international protection lodged in
one of the Member States by a third-country
national or stateless person, commonly known
as the Dublin III Regulation, which was updated
to correct deficiencies that jeopardised the ad-
equate and homogeneous functioning of the
EU’s asylum system as a whole.
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https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/asylum_en
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Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
of the Council establishing the criteria and mechanisms for
determining the Member State responsible for examining
an application for international protection lodged in one of
the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless
person (recast) – COM (2016) 270 final.
The Commission proposed modifying this
regulation to enhance the efficiency of the sys-
tem. Actions to be taken included suppressing
cessation of responsibility clauses to ensure that
individual applications for international protec-
tion are handled by one specific Member State,
creating a fairer system of case distribution with
a correction mechanism designed to automati-
cally detect disproportionate national caseloads
and clarifying applicant obligations and the con-
sequences of non-compliance, the last of which
was intended to deter abuses and discourage
secondary movements of applicants within the
Union.
The Commission has also proposed substi-
tuting the Asylum Procedures and Qualification
Directives with new, directly applicable regula-
tions and revising the Reception Conditions
Directive.
These modifications are meant to provide a
common procedure for all asylum applications,
harmonise standards of protection and asylum
seekers’ rights and unify reception conditions
throughout the European Union so as to reduce
the differences between recognition rates in
Member States, discourage secondary move-
ments and guarantee the implementation of
common, effective procedures for all people ap-
plying for asylum within the EU.
Under the new regulations, the European
Asylum Support Office (EASO) will be upgraded
and renamed The European Union Agency for
Asylum. This entity will be a full-fledged agency
responsible for strengthening practical coopera-
tion and information exchange on asylum-relat-
ed matters, ensuring a high grade of uniformity
in the assessment of protection needs across the
Union, promoting Union law and operational
standards related to asylum and monitoring and
assessing their application, and providing great-
er technical and operational support to Member