The European Commission has finally decided to send a warning letter to Hungary on the subject of its recent law on asylum (adopted in March) as well as other aspects of its legislation on asylum, which were already flagged up in December 2015. On 26 April, it indicated that it was still eager to continue the dialogue with Budapest (see EUROPE 11775).
“The Commission believes that of the five issues identified in the letter of formal notice from 2015, three remain to be addressed, in particular in the area of asylum procedures. In addition, the letter outlines new incompatibilities of the Hungarian asylum law, as recently modified by the amendments of 2017”. The incompatibilities focus mainly on three areas: asylum procedures, rules on return and reception conditions.
The Commission believes that the Hungarian legislation does not comply with EU law, in particular Directive 2013/32/EU on Asylum Procedures, Directive 2008/115/EC on Return, Directive 2013/33/EU on Reception Conditions and several provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. As regards the asylum procedures, the Commission press release explained that Hungarian law does not allow for applications to be submitted outside of special transit zones at the borders, and restricts access to these zones, thus failing to provide an effective access to asylum procedures within its territory.
The Commission explains that it is concerned that, “Hungary is currently returning migrants (including asylum seekers) who cross the border irregularly to Serbia without following the procedures and conditions of EU law on return and asylum”. It also states that it is convinced that, “the systematic and indefinite confinement of asylum seekers, including minors over 14, in closed facilities in the transit zone without respecting required procedural safeguards, such as the right to appeal, leads to systematic detentions, which are in breach of the EU law on reception conditions and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)