2.3.1 Asylum decisions at first instance – EU+ overview
In 2018, EU+ countries issued 601 525 decisions in first instance, a large 39 % decrease compared to 2017. Thus – differently from last year – there were more applications lodged than decisions issued, with obvious implications for the number of cases pending at first instance. The number of first-instance decisions issued each quarter decreased throughout the year: the overall EU+ output was indeed larger in the first three months of 2018, and gradually declined in the second and third quarters of the year. A minor increase was noticed, nonetheless, in the last three months of the year. Read more...
2.3.2 Asylum decisions at first instance per citizenship of origin
Most first-instance decisions were issued to nationals of the three main countries of origin in terms of applications lodged. Syrians returned to be the citizenship receiving the most decisions (75 030), after decision-making in EU+ countries in 2017 was heavily focused on Afghan applicants. The latter received 62 535 decisions in 2018, followed by Iraqi nationals (43 220). Jointly, these three citizenships received slightly fewer than a third of all first-instance decisions issued in the EU+. Read more...
2.3.3 Asylum decisions at first instance per EU+ country
With regard to the volume of first-instance decisions issued in each country, most decisions were issued in Germany (30 % of all decisions), France (19 %) and Italy (16 %) . Jointly, these three countries issued about two thirds of all decisions issued in the EU+. These three countries processed the most first-instance decisions also in 2017, but the overall output was distributed differently. Read more...
2.3.4 Recognition rate
No internationally agreed methodology for calculating recognition rates currently exists. Ideally, the recognition rate should measure the success of asylum applications lodged. However, information on applications and their outcomes – in the form of decisions – is not directly linked in the Eurostat dataset (nor in the EASO EPS dataset). For the most part, decisions are not necessarily issued in the same reference period as applications are lodged, resulting in separate indicators for applications and decisions in each reference period. Read more...
2.3.5 Recognition rate by country of origin
The highest EU+ recognition rates were for applicants from Yemen (89 %), Syria (88 %) and Eritrea (85 %). The lowest share of positive decisions was for applicants from Moldova (1 %), North Macedonia (2 %) and Georgia (5 %). The decrease in the EU+ recognition rate compared to 2017 was mainly due to the fact that recognition rates dropped for several citizenships of origin, and particularly for those with a high number of decisions issued. Read more...
2.3.6 Special procedures: admissibility, border and accelerated procedures
EASO has included in its EPS data exchange a disaggregation regarding the use of special procedures in decision-making. Several of the countries with such procedures in law were able to provide information on the number of decisions issued at first instance since March 2014, when EASO data exchange first began, disaggregated by type of procedure (normal, border, admissibility, accelerated). Read more...
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117 At the time of extraction, on 13 May 2019, information was available for all EU+ countries. (in title)
