Announced on the Council's website, this reform introduces a series of legislative changes designed to streamline the process and ensure equitable distribution of responsibilities among member states.
The newly approved Pact on Asylum and Migration is set to make the EU's migration system more equitable and robust, facilitating more tangible outcomes. According to Nicole de Moor, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, this pact will enhance the efficiency of the European asylum system and reinforce solidarity across the EU. The reform also emphasizes cooperation with third countries to tackle the root causes of illegal migration.
In total, the Council adopted ten pieces of legislation that overhaul the entire European asylum and migration management system:
- Vetting Regulation: This allows for the categorization of irregular migrants and asylum seekers at external borders, ensuring uniform conduct of identification, security, and health assessments.
- Eurodac Regulation Update: Enhancements in the Eurodac database will improve data accuracy on migrants, aiding in the management of illegal migrations and policy formulation.
- Asylum Procedure Regulation: This regulation streamlines European asylum procedures, mandating a border procedure in specific cases.
- Return Border Procedure Regulation: Focuses on the repatriation of individuals whose applications are denied under the border procedure.
- Asylum and Migration Management Regulation: Determines the responsible member state for examining protection applications and introduces a systematic sharing of responsibility.
- Crisis Regulation: Prepares the EU to handle asylum applications under extraordinary circumstances.
- Qualification Regulation and Reception Conditions Directive: These set uniform standards for granting international protection and the treatment of asylum seekers, aiming to reduce secondary movements within the EU.
- Resettlement Regulation: Establishes protocols for legal and safe resettlement and humanitarian admission to the EU.
EU member states have been given a two-year timeframe to implement these laws, with the European Commission set to release a common implementation plan to assist in this transition. This reform follows a consensus among EU countries in response to high levels of illegal migration, marking a pivotal shift in the EU’s approach to handling migration and asylum issues.
