Section 3. Managing access to international protection

Similar to the recast Asylum Procedures Directive (APD), the Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR) outlines access to the procedure as a three-step process, including the making, registering and lodging of an application. Effective access to the asylum procedure means that people seeking international protection can reach the authorities and are afforded a fair and efficient process. This is inexorably linked with effective access to the territory to make an application. In addition to the APR, specific EU legal instruments govern access to the asylum procedure in Europe: 

• The Screening Regulation sets up uniform rules for EU Member States to ensure that people having crossed the external border in an unauthorised manner without fulfilling entry conditions undergo identity, security, health and vulnerability checks and are channelled towards the appropriate procedure (border, accelerated or regular asylum procedure or return procedure);
• The Eurodac Regulation establishes an interoperable asylum and migration database to support the asylum system and help manage irregular migration; and
• The Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation establishes measures for situations of crisis and instrumentalisation of migrants.
  
  The principle of non-refoulement is a core principle of international and EU laws to ensure that an applicant is not returned to a country where they will face persecution (recast Qualification Directive (QD), Recital 3). It constitutes an essential and crucial safeguard throughout the asylum procedure, including for the access to the procedure, as obstructing access to territory and access to the procedure may, in certain circumstances, result in a person being returned to a country where their life or freedom may be threatened, breaching the international principle of non-refoulement.