On Thursday 11 November, the European Parliament adopted definitively, by 396 votes to 92 with 73 abstentions, the modalities for the functioning of the new EU Agency for Asylum, which will be able to provide more assistance to Member States on the ground with more operational and technical means through a staff of 500 experts to help, for example, with the identification and registration of third country nationals or to support national authorities in the processing of the asylum procedure, including in crisis situations, relocation or resettlement.
The Agency, which is based around the existing EASO (European Asylum Support Office), will also be responsible for developing operational standards, analysis, guidelines and training on asylum-related issues. A post of Fundamental Rights Officer will also be created, to manage the new complaints mechanism.
In line with the wishes of the frontline Member States, it will not be until the end of 2023 that the Agency will be able to monitor how the various aspects of the EU’s common asylum policy are applied in the Member States in order to identify potential shortcomings, or at least when the Regulation on asylum and migration management - which replaces the Dublin Regulation - enters into force.
The frontline countries had felt in June that these aspects were too closely linked to the discussions on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and could therefore only partially support the new Agency rules, several articles of which are still pending. (see EUROPE 12742/10).
Link to the adopted report: https://bit.ly/3n72M8o (Solenn Paulic)