Section 4.2. The Dublin procedure
The Dublin III Regulation is the cornerstone of CEAS which aims to define a clear and workable method to determine which Member State is responsible for the examination of an application for international protection. Its objective is to guarantee that each person has effective access to the asylum procedure and that each application will be examined by one Member State only.
To achieve these objectives, the Dublin III Regulation establishes a set of hierarchical criteria under Chapter III to determine the Member State which is responsible for the examination of an asylum application. These include:
- Criteria to protect family unity and unaccompanied minors (Articles 8-11 and 16);
- Criteria on the responsibility of the Member State which played the greatest part in the applicant’s entry into or residence in the country (Articles 12-15); and
- If the first two do not apply, the responsible Member State is the one where an application for international protection was first lodged.
Member States may also assume responsibility based on the discretionary clauses of the regulation.
The Dublin III Regulation is applied by all EU Member States and four associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). Throughout this section, the term Member States covers the associated countries as well.
