EU asylum agency: Council Presidency and European Parliament reach provisional agreement

The Council presidency and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on an EU asylum agency regulation.

The regulation establishing the EU asylum agency aims to improve the application of asylum policy within the EU, by turning the current European asylum support office (EASO) into a fully-fledged agency. This agency will be responsible for improving the functioning of the common European asylum system, by providing enhanced operational and technical assistance to member states and by contributing to more convergence in the assessment of applications for international protection.

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.

Eduardo Cabrita, Portuguese Minister for Home Affairs

The EU asylum agency regulation strengthens the current EASO mandate and facilitates the deployment of experts to member states that have requested operational support. The new legislation increases the agency's support to cooperation among member states and third countries, thereby also contributing to the solidarity among member states and the EU overall external dimension. It also takes into account that discussions on a new migration and asylum pact are ongoing and defers the entry into application of the monitoring mechanism to a later stage.

The provisional political agreement is subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament before going through the formal adoption procedure.

Background

In May and June 2016, the European Commission presented seven legislative proposals, including a proposal on the EU asylum agency, to improve the functioning of the common European asylum system.

The Council adopted an initial partial negotiating mandate for the EU asylum agency proposal on 20 December 2016, and negotiations with the European Parliament took place in the following months. On 28 June 2017 the Council Presidency and the European Parliament reached a broad political agreement. Work then continued at technical level and on 6 December 2017, EU ambassadors took note of the provisional agreement.

In September 2018, the European Commission presented an amended proposal for the EU asylum agency regulation, building on the provisional agreement reached in 2017. Work on this proposal started both within the Council and the European Parliament. However, as part of its migration and asylum pact proposals in September 2020, the European Commission maintained its 2016 proposal on the EU asylum agency regulation, and discussions on it were relaunched. The Council adopted an extended mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on 16 June 2021.