Commission shares good practices to further enhance cooperation on EU asylum procedures among Member States

The Commission is presenting today a set of good practices to ensure the effectiveness of the Dublin III Regulation, which had been announced by President von der Leyen earlier in June as part of the implementation of the Dublin Roadmap.

In her letter to Member States, ahead of the European Council of February 2023, President von der Leyen committed to the full implementation of the Dublin Roadmap, which had been developed by the Commission and endorsed by Member States in November 2022. The Dublin Roadmap sets out practical actions aiming to reduce the incentives for secondary movements through improved cooperation among Member States.  

Today, in the ‘Dublin Roadmap in action – Enhancing the effectiveness of the Dublin III Regulation: identifying good practices in the Member States‘, the Commission identifies a number of good practices as having a positive outcome on the functioning of the Dublin procedure. These include:

• Presenting detailed information to the applicant about the transfer, by organising pre-departure interviews or distributing targeted brochures to explain the reasons for the transfer decision and what to expect when being transferred.
• Ensuring a closer oversight of each transfer, for example by introducing a registration system for those who enter and exit the reception centres. This will monitor the presence in the reception centres and can also contribute to limiting absconding.
• Making use of measures alternative to detention, for example by confiscating travel documents or designating special officials in the reception centres to regularly check the physical presence of persons subject to transfers.
• Improving communication between the transferring and the responsible Member States, by concluding bilateral agreements, designating liaison officers, organising regular bilateral meetings, as well as fact-finding missions.
• Upgrading existing IT systems and developing new digital solutions to monitor all stages of the Dublin procedure.

The document presented today also includes an Annex providing a compilation of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the interpretation of the Dublin III Regulation, with a view to ensuring a swifter application of the Dublin rules in Member States, by ensuring a higher level of harmonisation in the Member States’ interpretation of these rules.

Over the past year, Member States have, on the basis of the Dublin Roadmap, engaged in various initiatives with the support of the Commission to increase the efficiency of Dublin procedures. To support Member States in their efforts, in April 2023, the European Union Agency for Asylum presented Recommendations on Dublin transfers. 

Next Steps

The good practices identified in this document will be discussed in the next meeting of the Dublin Contact Committee on 4 December. The Commission will continue to support the Member States in achieving all the objectives set in the Dublin Roadmap. To this end, the Commission will regularly update this document and continue the evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of the Dublin Roadmap within the Contact Committee on the Dublin III Regulation.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum proposed by the Commission in September 2020 includes a series of tools to make the Dublin system more effective, notably as part of the proposal for an Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, which is currently being negotiated by the co-legislators. The Commission stands ready to continue working with the European Parliament and the Council to ensure agreement on the Pact by the end of this legislative mandate, in line with the Joint Roadmap.

Background

The Dublin Roadmap, endorsed by the Member States in November 2022, foresees a concrete timeline for the improvement of transfers under the Dublin III Regulation in all Member States. The implementation of the Dublin Roadmap so far has led to more flexibility among Member States in organising Dublin transfers of asylum seekers. In parallel, the EU Agency for Asylum has been supporting Member States in assessing the concrete situations of asylum-seekers in Dublin transfers.

Following the Contact Committee meeting on the Dublin III Regulation on 16 March 2023, the Commission organised several bilateral meetings with the Member States to better understand the challenges that they are facing, as well as to identify, among measures taken, potential good practices to ensure the swift and adequate implementation of the measures foreseen in the Dublin Roadmap.

The Commission is also adopting today a Recommendation for increased cooperation between Member States when responding to serious threats to internal security and public policy in Schengen area.