Common European Asylum System: achievements during the legislative term 2014-2019

Briefing 08-04-2019

The right to asylum is a fundamental right and recognising the refugee status where the criteria are fulfilled is an international obligation, first recognised in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees. In the EU, an area of open borders and freedom of movement, Member States need to have a joint approach to guarantee high standards to persons in need of international protection through establishment of a Common European Asylum System based on fundamental rights. The European Parliament always strongly promoted a Common European Asylum System in accordance with the Union’s legal commitments. The Parliament worked as well as for the reduction of illegal migration as well as for the protection of vulnerable groups. In 2015, the unprecedented high number of arrivals of refugees and irregular migrants in the EU exposed a series of deficiencies and gaps in Union policies on asylum. Therefore, the European Commission proposed in May and July 2016 a third package of legislation to reform of the Common European Asylum System. and the European Parliament took an active part as a co-legislator to achieve this objective.