2.1.1. Background

2.1.1. Background

CEAS is a legal and policy framework developed to guarantee harmonised and uniform standards for people seeking international protection in the EU. Based on an understanding that the EU needs to have a common approach in implementing transparent, effective and efficient procedures,87 CEAS emphasises a shared responsibility to process applications for international protection in a dignified manner and with fair treatment.88

In the first phase of CEAS (1999-2005), key legislative instruments were created to establish minimum standards for the asylum procedure across EU countries. During this period, EU countries had varied experiences with asylum flows, while protection standards were deemed not to be strong enough. To improve the functioning of CEAS, substantive amendments were introduced to key legal instruments that govern the standards of the European asylum system in the second phase of CEAS.89^, 90

The increasing – and often uneven – pressure that national asylum and reception systems in EU+ countries faced since 2015 underlined the importance of having an EU-wide framework to manage mixed migration flows.^vi In 2016 the EU Commission presented reform proposals for core components of CEAS, including a reform of the Dublin system;91 reinforcing of the Eurodac Regulation;92 enhancing the mandate of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) toward a fully-fledged agency for asylum;93 replacing the Asylum Procedures Directive with a regulation directly applicable in national asylum systems to harmonise procedures across EU+ countries;94 replacing the Qualification Directive with a regulation directly applicable in national asylum systems to further harmonise protection standards and rights;95 reform of the Reception Conditions Directive to ensure harmonised and dignified reception standards;96 and the establishment of a permanent Union Resettlement Framework to provide legal and safe pathways to the EU.^vii, 97

Progress toward the adoption of the proposals was uneven. While practical cooperation continued among Member States during 2016-2019, the negotiations for the reform package seemed to have reached an impasse.