Archive - Civil Society and the Consultative Forum

On 10th November, the EUAA Consultative Forum organised its 1st Plenary Meeting in Malta. This plenary meeting provided an opportunity for the new members of the EUAA Consultative Forum to meet, to exchange initial ideas on the Forum’s working methods and to vote for and elect the CF Chairperson ad interim.   This year’s meeting was exclusively open to the newly appointed Consultative Forum members with more than 70 members attending the event.  During the first part of the meeting, the members were presented with detailed information about the work of the Agency and had the opportunity to share opinions and thoughts on the current situation of asylum in the EU with the Agency’s Heads of Centres during the question-and-answer session.

The meeting was opened by Ms Nina Gregori, Executive Director of the Agency, who during her introductory remarks welcomed the new Members and highlighted the importance of having established the new EUAA Consultative Forum.  Ms Gregori also underlined and welcomed the diversity of the Forum Members which would undoubtedly add value to the Agency’s work.

During the final segment of the morning, the Consultative Forum elected its first Chair ad interim, Dr. Sarah Adeyinka, who is the founder of the NGO CoCreate.  Dr Adeyinka will now guide the Forum to  produce its working methods, which, as per the Regulation, need to be established by the Forum itself.  

The afternoon programme was dedicated to discussions about the development of the Forum’s working methods.  The members were divided into small groups, each group focused on key elements for the working methods, such as governance, planning and implementation of CF activities including decision-making, communication channels and tools, etc.  This session was expertly moderated by an external contractor, Visuality, and all the participants had the opportunity to take an active part in all the elements discussed.  

Meeting documents:

• Agenda
• Presentations
• Background note for discussions on the working methods
• Graphic recordings [1] - [2]
• EUAA news item
• Photos from the event

On the 25th of May, the Consultative Forum in collaboration with colleagues from the Information and Analysis Sector organised a webinar on the ‘Who is who in International Protection’ mapping project.  The webinar, which was followed by around 30 civil society organisations,  provided a live demonstration of the ‘Who is who’ project developed by the EUAA, which maps all the different stakeholders and their role in asylum and reception at European, national and local levels. The overall project will feed into a publicly available overview of all relevant actors with the following two main outputs i) a one-time publication listing and describing all stakeholders grouped per thematic activity, and ii) an online available database including an overview of all stakeholders which will be regularly updated. 

During the webinar, participants were introduced to the civil society component of the Who is Who project. Under this component, the aim is to map relevant civil society organisations active in the field of asylum. Participants were presented with the draft survey that will be used for this mapping.  The next steps of the project were also discussed with the participants and valuable feedback was collected from respective civil society organisations.  On 1st June,  an invitation was shared inviting interested civil society organisations with expertise in the area of asylum and migration to participate in the information collection exercise by filling out the following survey. The plan is to have the civil society section ready by the first quarter in 2023.  

Find more information on the ‘Who is who’ project.

Meeting documents:

• Agenda
• Concept Note  
• Presentation slides 

For any questions please write to: Consultative-Forum@euaa.europa.eu
 

INFORMATION WEBINARS ON THE EASO CASE-LAW DATABASE 

On the 25th and 27th May, the Consultative Forum in collaboration with colleagues from the Information and Analysis Sector organised 2 information sessions on the Case-Law database. The Webinars provided a live demonstration of this online public platform developed by EASO which provides up-to date, accurate information on new case law related to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and compiles relevant cases in the field of asylum issued by national and international courts. 

Participants were also shown how to navigate the database, enabling them to search for case law, identify relevant topics, Identify relevant publications and know how to register cases into the database.

More information can be found here Case Law Database. Please click here if you wish to subscribe to the EUAA Case-Law newsletter.

Meeting documents:

• Link to recording
• Presentation

For any questions please write to: Consultative-Forum@euaa.europa.eu

On 23rd June 2021, the EASO Consultative Forum in collaboration with the Training and Professional Development Centre organised a thematic meeting on Training. EASO is currently in the process of restructuring and upgrading the training curriculum in line with the educational and occupational standards established by the European Sectorial Qualifications Framework for Asylum and Reception Officials (ESQF). The transition to the new system provides an opportunity to review and upgrade the content of the training modules, which is a process that EASO is involving the Forum in. The aim of the meeting was to explore if and how the Consultative Forum’s expertise could best be integrated into relevant EASO training materials. The online meeting was attended by more than 30 Civil Society Organisations.

The meeting kicked off with a keynote address by Ms Nina Gregori, EASO’s Executive Director who emphasised the importance of training as one of EASO’s priority areas and part of the Agency’s permanent support tools contributing significantly to the harmonisation of asylum practices. 

Ms Gregori explained that over the years, EASO has extended and diversified the training offered with more than 43,000 participants trained over the last ten years. Despite COVID-19, work continued and even intensified and EASO has now shifted all its training activities online, providing business continuity and helping Member States adjust to the new reality. Beyond training as permanent support tool, the curriculum is also extensively used in the context of EASO’s Operational Support as well as in the external dimension, providing a solid basis for EASO’s capacity-building activities in third countries. 

To conclude Ms Gregori referred to the continuous open dialogue that the Agency maintained with Civil Society on training and referred amongst others also to discussions held at the 10th Plenary meeting last October 2020 where the Forum had expressed interest to reinforce its engagement on EASO’s training.  

The meeting then continued with a presentation on the EASO Training Curriculum by the Head of Centre followed by a presentation on the New Governance of the Training Quality Assurance Framework.  Further presentations on the Training Curriculum and Module Development Process and the Consultation Project with the Consultative Forum on the selected Training Modules took place and were followed by a Q&A Session. 

During the closing remarks Rachelle Cortis, the Head of Centre reiterated that civil society is already involved in the development of training material through the work of the Reference Group.  Ms Cortis continued by stating that this will be maintained in the future, and that when relevant, EASO is open to explore additional channels for consultation with civil society referring to the process with selected members of the Consultative Forum by means of a call for expression of interest on four selected training modules. The CF members could express interest and if selected to take part in the consultation, they would then be consulted on the concerned module.  

Timeline of the next steps:

On 20 July, the EASO Consultative Forum launched the call for expression of interest on the four selected training modules.  Members of the Consultative Forum were invited to express interest provided they possess relevant expertise on the subjects of the modules which relate to the following topics:

A.  Assistance of asylum applicant’s adaptation to their social environment within and around the reception centre;  
B.  Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the asylum context; 
C.  Gender-based violence in asylum context; 
D.  Trafficking in Human Beings in the asylum context.          

Relevant CSO’s are being selected by EASO according to predefined criteria and will be invited to participate in the consultation. 

Meeting documents:

• Agenda
• Keynote speech of Ms Nina Gregori EASO Executive Director
• Presentations

For any questions, please write to: Consultative-Forum@easo.europa.eu.

This year’s Consultative Forum annual Plenary meeting focused on "What will the EUAA’s added value be for international protection". The co-legislators reached an agreement on the Draft Regulation transforming EASO into the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) with the new mandate which entered into force early in 2022. The meeting presented an opportunity to discuss the main changes that the EUAA would bring and included also forward-looking discussions on what the EUAA’s added-value would be for international protection. The event was organised in a hybrid format with around 50 civil society organisations attending in-person and more than 100 participants online. 

The meeting started with an opening statement by Nina Gregori, EASO’s Executive Director, which was then followed by presentations from EASO on the Asylum Situation and an update on EASO’s Operational Activities.  

The second segment of the morning agenda included a high-level panel debate with representatives from the European Commission, UNHCR, and ECRE. The panellists each highlighted different elements of the Agency’s extended mandate and explained how, in their opinion, these would contribute to bringing added-value to the field of international protection, including for example the Agency’s role related to early warning, contingency-planning and crisis response, quality decision-making, convergence, monitoring, the external dimension as well as fundamental rights protection including the role of the revised Consultative Forum. A rich and interactive Q&A session provided participants an opportunity to engage with the panellists directly.  

The afternoon was dedicated to the Consultative Forum and its contributions to EASO’s work. Parallel break-out sessions were organised on: training, vulnerable applicants and asylum processes which focused on providing more detailed information on EASO’s activities in these areas and during which participants explored how CSOs could further engage with the Agency on these topics. 
 

Meeting documents:

• Meeting report
• Agenda
• Presentations
• Panel debate discussion paper
• Workshops discussion papers:
  • on training
  • on asylum processes
  • on vulnerable applicants
• Graphic recordings of the workshops:
  • training
  • asylum processes
  • vulnerable applicants
• Photos from event  

EASO organised the 10th edition of the Consultative Forum Plenary session as a virtual meeting in the mornings of 13 and 14 October.

The very first edition of the Consultative Forum was organised in 2011, the year that EASO became fully operational. Although expectations for the Agency were high, its resources were few, reflecting its stage of development as start-up agency. Ten years on, EASO has developed into a full-grown Agency and its role has adapted to the changing EU asylum and migration context and the growing needs of Member States. Over the years, the Agency has grown incrementally in some areas and exponentially in others, with its activities having expanded both in number as well as in scope. In the near future, EASO’s activities may experience another transformation following the Commission’s recent presentation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and call on the co-legislators to proceed with finalizing the negotiations on the EUAA proposal. 

On the occasion of the 10th edition of the CF Plenary, and with discussions on the future of the Agency to be resumed, the main aim of the 10th Consultative Forum Plenary was to look back on EASO’s activities as well as to look forward to what is next for the CEAS as well as EASO’s/EUAA’s role therein. 

More specifically, the following thematic EASO activity areas were focused on in more detail during discussions: 

•    EASO’s operational support in Member States 
•    Training and Professional Development
•    Resettlement & complementary pathways 
•    Vulnerable groups 

Visual recordings of the opening statement, session 1 and 2 produced by Visuality

On day 2 of the meeting, participants were divided into three parallel workshops during which they discussed the following thematic activity areas in more details: i) training and professional development; ii) resettlement and humanitarian admission, as well as; iii) vulnerable groups. The parallel workshops were followed by a plenary discussion in which the main outcomes of the workshops were presented and discussed.

Meeting documents:

•    Final Agenda 
•    Background note 
•    Information Pack 
•    Bios of Speakers 
•    Discussion Papers on Workshop 1, Workshop 2 and Workshop 3

On 23 July 2020, EASO hosted it’s first Consultative Forum thematic webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on asylum in the EU. The webinar which was followed by not less that 90 participants, was open to relevant civil society organisations, IGOs, academia, think tanks, representatives from Member State authorities, EU institutions and EASO staff.  
The webinar was divided into three main sessions:

• Session 1 focused on the impact of COVID-19 on EASO’s activities as well as Member States’ asylum and reception systems;
• Session 2 discussed the impact of COVID-19 on civil society organisations, and;
• Session 3 focused discussions on ”What is next?” in terms of anticipated and emerging asylum trends as well as future developments of the CEAS.

During the first session, EASO provided an overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on EASO’s main activities, whilst also explaining the specific support that EASO has been providing to Member States tailored to help them respond to the Covid challenges. Furthermore, more detailed information was provided on measures taken by Member States in their asylum and reception systems in response to COVID-19, based on two reports published by EASO (Issue 1 June 2 and Issue 2 July 15).

During Session 2, the floor was given to Civil Society Organisations including ECRE, the Portuguese Refugee Council, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen and the Swedish Red Cross. They presented and discussed about the challenges that the pandemic brought to their work, including good practices in responding to these.  

During the last session EASO, the Commission and UNHCR discussed what is next, in terms of anticipated and emerging asylum trends and how to respond to these, as well as further developments of the CEAS in the wake of Covid-19.  

The following main points emerged from discussions throughout the meeting: 

• The pandemic has forced a rethink of the traditional functioning of EU+ countries’ asylum and reception systems. Physical distancing measures, including the inability to carry out tasks requiring face-to-face contacts, initially made it difficult for asylum authorities to perform certain steps in the asylum procedure. Member States consequently resorted to e-solutions (such as electronic tools and portals for lodging asylum applications, e-services for information provision, remote interviewing, and digital case-management) as a means to resume asylum procedures. Although these new tools and procedures were meant as short-term emergency solutions, they now appear to be emerging as part of the ”new normal” with likely long-lasting effects on the CEAS. 
• Similar to Member States, many CSOs have equally resorted to e-solutions to be able to continue to implement their activities and provide support to asylum seekers. Examples included e-counselling meetings, provision of information through digital tools and the creation of digital platforms and hotlines. 
• The trend of digitalisation in the field of asylum presents opportunities as well as new challenges. CSOs emphasised certain gaps in the implementation of new tools/procedures which have challenged asylum seekers’ access to effective and fair procedures. They stressed the need to further look into some of the new tools and procedures and called upon Member States to implement practices in line with the EU legal framework. 

As to what is next, participants agreed that the asylum situation in the EU remains volatile with possible increased migratory pressure following the Covid-19 pandemic. A comprehensive EU approach to migration and asylum is urgently needed – one which should be efficient and crisis resilient but also characterised by more intra-EU solidarity, including solidarity towards asylum seekers and refugees. 

Meeting documents:

• Full Meeting Report 
• Agenda
• Summary of Presentations 
• Presentations

For any questions, please write to: Consultative-Forum@easo.europa.eu.

EASO organised the 9th edition of its Consultative Forum Plenary Meeting, entitled "Initial steps in the asylum procedure", on the 12th of November 2019 in Brussels. 

The 2018 EASO Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the EU+ signaled a trend of EU Member States introducing a number of changes in the initial steps of the asylum procedure to obtain as much information as possible from applicants at an early stage, aiming to ensure that applications are processed swiftly, comprehensively and in an informed manner. This year’s plenary meeting aimed to explore the following key questions:

• What are some of the new measures and tools that are being introduced by Member States to streamline the initial phase of the asylum procedure?
• What impact do such new measures and tools have on applicants for international protection?
• What role do civil society organisations play in guaranteeing effective access to procedural safeguards during the initial steps of the asylum procedure?
• How is EASO involved in the initial steps of the procedure, and how can EASO and civil society organisations improve cooperation during the initial steps of the asylum procedure?

Meeting documents:

• Final Agenda
• Information Note
• Workshop Discussion Papers
  • Workshop 1: Outreach and information provision during the initial steps of the asylum procedure
  • Workshop 2: Registration procedure
  • Workshop 3: Channelling based on the profile of the applicant and the identification of special needs
• Meeting Report 
• Prioritised Recommendations 

EASO continues to engage in a two-way dialogue with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) through the organisation of Consultative Forum (CF) meetings, electronic consultations on key EASO documents, as well as direct participation of specialised CSOs in various areas of EASO’s work.  

Thematic consultation with CSOs are organised in addition to the annual Plenary Meeting with a view of rendering the CF more effective. This year, EASO launched a survey with civil society to collect input on the desired theme and format for the 2019 CF meetings for both the Thematic and Plenary CF meetings). A total of 84 replies were received and the results indicated that respondents favoured the theme of vulnerable groups for the thematic meeting. After internal consultations, it was proposed to organise a thematic meeting on gender-related persecution. The event took place on the 11^th of July in Brussels.

The overall aim of the meeting was to explore how CSOs support persons in EU+ Member States' asylum and reception systems who experienced gender-based persecution, identify the main challenges and good practices, and discuss if and how EASO could integrate civil society's expertise in possible future work on this topic. The meeting involved more than 35 specialised CSOs with relevant experience and expertise to contribute to the topics.

EASO consulted relevant CSOs and International Organisations (IOs) to identify key issues that require further attention and space for discussion. As a result, four main topics were addressed in detail during thematic breakout sessions, including:

• Women and girls in the EU asylum systems
• Mitigating the risks of gender based violence in reception facilities
• Harmful traditional practices as ground for asylum
• Reception conditions for LGBTI applicants 

The meeting consisted of mixed participatory methods with plenary sessions as well as interactive thematic breakout sessions. The breakout sessions were facilitated by representatives of CSOs with the support of EASO, in order to give the lead and the floor to CSO participants. During these sessions, participants formulated and agreed upon recommendations to be addressed to civil society counterparts, national authorities and EASO.

The 8th EASO Consultative Forum Plenary Meeting took place in Brussels on the 5th December from 08:30 to 17:30 hrs. at The Blue Point (80 Bd A. Reyers Ln, 1210 Brussels, Belgium).

The meeting was organised in the context of EASO’s Consultative Forum, a platform aiming to pool knowledge and to exchange information between EASO and civil society.

This year’s meeting focused on reception. To this end, a panel composed of key actors working in the field of asylum discussed how to create a reception system able to effectively and efficiently respond to changing inflows. The afternoon session hosted parallel workshops co-led by EASO and civil society representatives. These workshops tackled individual topics, on provision of information to applicants for international protection in the context of reception, reception of children, emergency reception provision, coordination between different stakeholders involved in reception - more specifically on how to structurally embed civil society in Member States’ reception systems - and reception and society. A follow-up session addressed the key messages from these workshops, followed by a closing panel debate.

• Agenda
• Information note
• Discussion Paper with information on the Workshops
• Meeting Report
• Presentation: Situation of asylum in the EU+
• Presentation: EASO Department of Asylum Support - 2018 activities
• Image gallery

Videos

8th EASO Consultative Forum Plenary Meeting - Register now

#EASOCF Plenary Meeting in Brussels kicks off

Panel debate with Stephen Ryan, Deputy Head of Asylum Unit at the European Commission, Mirjam Schuit, Head of Staff at COA, and Hanne Beirens, Acting Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe

Panel debate on future perspectives for reception with EASO's Executive Director a.i. Jamil Addou, Catherine Woollard, Secretary General from the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), Shannon Pfohman, Policy and Advocacy Director at Caritas Europa and Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, Regional Representative for EU Affairs at UNHCR

8th EASO Consultative Forum Plenary Meeting - Workshops

On 28th March 2018, EASO organised a Consultative Forum Thematic Meeting on “Access to Information: Exploring Existing Resources, Good Practices, and Ways Forward”. More than thirty specialised civil society actors exchanged information on tools and activities developed by civil society organisations that aim at catering to the asylum-related information needs of individuals seeking international protection. The meeting offered an opportunity to map existing information resources and activities, review challenges and innovative solutions, and identify suggestions with a view of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the provision of information in the future. 

Download Briefing Paper

The discussions and the outcomes of the meeting fed into EASO’s work by informing a section of the 2017 Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the EU. Moreover, participants also agreed to develop a Briefing Paper on access to information which would summarise both the results of the online questionnaire that was administered by EASO on the topic prior to the meeting (with 50 completed responses) as well as the discussions at the meeting. 

Given the high interest by civil society in the subject matter, participants further encouraged EASO to organise a follow-up meeting, which, in its next edition, could focus on reviewing in particular the impact and effectiveness of information activities by a.o. reviewing any relevant experiences that CSOs may have with regard to monitoring and evaluation. Follow-up discussions are planned to take place at the CF Informal side meeting following the launch of the Annual Report on 18th June in Brussels as well as the CF Annual Plenary Meeting which is scheduled to take place in the beginning of November this year. 

Meeting documents:

• Meeting Report ^NEW 
• Draft Agenda 
• Information Note

EASO 7th Consultative Forum Plenary, 17 November 2017, Brussels

The annual EASO Consultative Forum Plenary Meeting was held in Brussels on 17th November 2017. Although EASO regularly consults the Forum members throughout the year, the Plenary Meeting has become an important EASO event, attracting hundreds of participants. The main aim of the Plenary Meeting was to take stock of developments in the field of asylum as well as to review cooperation between EASO and civil society.  
 

The 7th edition of the CF Plenary Meeting focused on EASO’s operational activities to frontline Member States and improved cooperation with civil society under the EUAA.

Main questions for discussion included:

• After a challenging two years, is the CEAS now in better shape?
• How has the influx in 2015-2016 impacted frontline Member States?
• What has the EU collectively and EASO in particular done to assist frontline Member States?
• How do stakeholders assess these interventions? What has been the impact on asylum seekers/refugees?  What have we learned from our responses?
• What is the role of civil society organisations in assisting in this context and how can we better coordinate responses? How has EASO cooperated with civil society so far?
• What will the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) bring? What will be the role for the EUAA under the revised asylum acquis?
• What changes will the EUAA bring with regard to cooperation with civil society?
• How can EASO better cooperate with civil society to facilitate the implementation of the CEAS?
  - What should be the general and specific objectives of the Consultative Forum under the EUAA? What should be the desired outcomes in five years?
  - Accordingly, what new role, format and organisational structure for the CF under the EUAA? What concrete activities do we focus on next year?

The meeting was based on mixed participatory methods and brought together more than 200 representatives from civil society, international organisations, EU institutions, Member States’ asylum authorities, local municipalities as well as individuals working in the field of asylum at local, regional, national and international level. 

See meeting documents 

• Agenda
• Information Note
• Concept Paper for Working Groups 
• Press Release
• Image Gallery 
• Meeting Report 

Regional Thematic Meeting:"EASO Operations: Lessons Learned and Future Perspective"

In the context of its Consultative Forum activities, EASO organised a Regional Thematic Meeting in Trapani, Italy on 29 September 2017. The meeting, which was dedicated to EASO Operations and future perspectives brought together representatives of EASO, the EU Institutions, members of the Consultative Forum and local NGOs operating on the ground in order to: 

• Provide information on EASO's operational activities
• Review the implementation of relocation and the hotspot approach in Italy
• Identify what has worked well and what can be improved
• Discuss the future development of EASO support activities in Italy

More than 50 participants representing local NGOs and EU civil society organisations had the opportunity to be informed about EASO’s operational activities in Italy, to identify challenges and best practices on relocation and the hotspot approach, as well as to share best-practices on how cooperation of all actors on the ground can be more effective and sustainable. A wealth of information was shared during the meeting on how Civil Society can further support Italy and EASO operational activities.

Discussions will also feed into the Consultative Forum Plenary meeting of 17 November 2017 in Brussels.

Meeting documents:

• Agenda
• Presentation: Implementation of EASO support activities in practice
   

In the context of EASO Consultative Forum activities, 59 participants from the institutions and Civil Society attended the meeting which was hosted in the Ministry of Internal Administration in Lisbon.The meeting was opened by the Minister Urbano de Sousa and Minister Assistant Cabrita. Relocated applicants shared their experience as well as civil society actors involved in reception and integration. Portuguese Greek and Italian asylum authorities, EASO, UNHCR and IOM discussed the progress in the relocation process and their respective roles. EASO stressed the importance to build synergies with civil society and to create venue like this meeting to promote dialogue.

See Meeting Agenda [EN] Presentation EASO [EN] Presentation ACM [EN] Presentation SEF [EN] Presentation Jesuit Refugee Council [EN] Presentation Red Cross Portugal [EN] Presentation Municipality of Lisbon [PT] IOM Presentation [EN]

In the context of EASO Consultative Forum activities, EASO invited civil society organizations and NGOs operating in Italy in the field of asylum and reception to attend the first information meetings in Italy on 15 and 16 March in Trapani and Catania.

The meetings, organized in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Interior and the European Commission, aimed at sharing information on the relocation process and hotspots, discussing with the civil society actors operating on the ground best practices and challenges in order to foster synergies and dialogue. 43 participants attended the two meetings in Trapani and Catania, representatives of a diversified group of civil society organization spanning from associations and cooperatives managing reception centres, lawyers associations, local municipalities and larger NGOs as well as UNHCR and IOM. Participants expressed high interest in the content covered by the meeting, appreciated the information material provided and expressed interest in getting further involved in similar meetings and other initiatives.

AGENDA PPT

The main aims of the 6th Consultative Forum plenary meeting included:

• Taking stock of relevant developments in the field of asylum in 2016;
• Identifying constraints and challenges in the development of the CEAS;
• Seeking solutions to constraints and challenges, in particular by providing suggestions for action by EASO within the remit of its mandate.

In order to answer to the latter aim, EASO has drafted an Action Plan following the completion of the 6th EASO Consultative Forum, which sets out specific actions to be implemented by EASO as identified by participants during the forum. The codification of these actions in this plan reinforces EASO’s commitment to implement these, ensuring appropriate follow-up with a view to increase transparency and accountability.

The specific actions are set out in the Action Plan which can be consulted here.

• Meeting Report [EN]
• Draft Agenda [EN]
• Programme Brochure [EN]
• Consultative Forum Info Note [EN]
• Venue Info [EN]