The European Parliament and the Council presidency have agreed on a provisional EU asylum agency (EUAA) regulation to improve the processing of migrant applications across the bloc by changing the current European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a fully-fledged agency.
On Tuesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed the agreement, saying, “This will make our asylum procedures in the European Union (EU) faster and more uniform.”
Portugal’s Minister for Home Affairs, Eduardo Cabrita, on reaching consensus, said: “Today’s agreement is an important building block in our efforts to establish an efficient, fair and truly European asylum system. The EU asylum agency will provide tangible, practical support in the processing of asylum seekers to those member states in need. It will also harness the strength of our common approach to improve operational cooperation with third countries.”
Likewise, the Executive Director of EASO, Nina Gregori, said: “The EUAA will be in a position to provide stronger operational and technical assistance to any Member State in managing challenges associated with asylum and reception, in line with the EU standards. Importantly, this will also lead to improved conditions for people in need of international protection.”
The European Council press release stated that the regulation would strengthen the mandate of EASO and help member states with operational support, on request, by deploying experts. It added that the agency would provide a “more effective asylum system via improved technical and operational support,” with almost 500 experts, including interpreters and case handlers, who will aid member states in dealing with an increased influx of migrants. “The new legislation will also allow for greater cooperation between the member states and third countries,” the release mentioned.
Additionally, the agency will help member states with the relocation of migrants and improve cooperation with the United Nations agencies on asylum and build capacity with non-European countries.
The mutual agreement comes against the backdrop of the migrant crisis and a drop in asylum applications since 2013. The DW reported that the EASO received only 485,000 asylum applications in 2020 for EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It believes that the decline in asylum applications was due to restrictions imposed by the Union to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The European Commission presented the original proposal to reform the EU asylum agency in mid-2016 to improve the functioning of the common asylum system. In this regard, the Council engaged in partial negotiations with the Parliament till both sides reached a broad political agreement by June 2017 and continued to work on the technical level until December 2017.
In September 2018, the European Commission presented another proposal that was rejected due to lack of consensus. However, the Commission’s amended 2016 legislative proposal was pushed forward and later adopted by the Parliament and the Council on June 16, 2021.
Moreover, a “sun-rise” clause has been inserted, since the Mediterranean countries have agreed to accept the mandate partially. According to the clause, the new measures will not be implemented until all member states have agreed on the entire migration pact. In addition, the implementation of this regulation is subject to approval from the European Council and the Parliament before the initiation of a formal adoption procedure.