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REPORT (COM(2016)0467 – C8-0321/2016 – 2016/0224(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU

A-8-2018-0171 · A8-0171/2018

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · Rapporteur: Laura Ferrara

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Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal for a regulation establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU. It sets harmonised rules on registering and lodging applications, personal interviews, legal assistance, specific procedural guarantees, minors and guardians, admissibility, accelerated and border procedures, safe country concepts and appeals. It creates an EU common list of safe countries of origin, allows national lists for three years, and lets the Commission suspend a country by delegated act. It deletes the EU-level designation of safe third countries and the rules on inadmissibility for subsequent applications and separate applications by spouses or partners.

Committee position. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs proposes to amend the Commission proposal by strengthening procedural guarantees, legal assistance and safeguards for minors, and by creating an EU common list of safe countries of origin while deleting the EU-level designation of safe third countries.

Key points

  1. Member States may introduce or retain more favourable standards on procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, if compatible with the regulation.
  2. Applications must be registered as soon as possible and no later than three working days from when they are made; the lack of documentation must not prevent registration.
  3. Applicants must lodge the application within fifteen working days of registration, with an appointment set not earlier than 15 working days from registration unless the applicant consents.
  4. Applicants have the right to be heard through an admissibility interview and a substantive interview, with an interpreter and, where necessary, a cultural mediator and legal adviser present.
  5. Applicants have the right to consult a legal adviser from registration until a final decision, and may request free legal assistance and representation at all stages, including appeal.
  6. The determining authority must assess individually and as early as possible whether an applicant needs specific procedural guarantees, completing the assessment within 30 days.
  7. Unaccompanied minors must be appointed a guardian before biometric data collection and no later than 24 hours after the application; a guardian may not be in charge of more than 20 unaccompanied minors.
  8. The border procedure may not be applied to unaccompanied minors and may be applied to other minors only where an alternative to detention is available.
  9. The determining authority may assess admissibility and reject an application as inadmissible on grounds including first country of asylum and safe third country.
  10. An EU common list of safe countries of origin is established; Member States may keep national lists for three years, after which only the EU common list applies.
  11. The Commission may suspend a third country from the EU common list by delegated act for six months and must propose removal within six months.
  12. The applicant has the right to an oral hearing before a first level appeal court or tribunal, with time limits of 15 or 20 working days to appeal depending on the decision.

Who is affected

  • Asylum applicants in the EU, who gain rights to information, legal assistance, interviews and specific procedural guarantees.
  • Unaccompanied minors, who must be appointed a guardian and may not be subject to border procedures.
  • Member States, which must register applications within three working days and may keep national safe country lists for three years.
  • The Commission, which reviews safe countries of origin and may suspend a country by delegated act.

Figures and deadlines

  • Three working days: deadline to register an application from when it is made.
  • Fifteen working days: deadline to lodge an application from registration.
  • 15 working days: earliest date for the lodging appointment from registration.
  • 30 days: deadline to complete the vulnerability assessment.
  • 24 hours: deadline to appoint a guardian after the application is made.
  • 20: maximum number of unaccompanied minors a guardian may be in charge of.
  • Six months: period of suspension of a third country from the EU common list of safe countries of origin.
  • Three years: period during which Member States may retain national lists of safe countries of origin.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 78(2)(d) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.