On 29 June 2021, the co-legislators agreed on the transformation of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a European Union Agency of Asylum (EUAA). The new mandate is expected to enter into force in Quarter 4 of 2021¹. 

EASO already fulfils many of the requirements outlined in the Regulation. However, the new legislation has important consequences on how the Agency will be structured and will operate, and so the organisation has been preparing to be operational in its new form as soon as possible after the legislation comes into force.

What will change when EASO becomes the EUAA?

The new EUAA mandate will bring numerous instruments to the effective implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), including by:

• Enabling quicker deployments of personnel to operations;
• Establishing a mandatory Asylum Reserve Pool of 500 Member State experts to be available in the case of disproportionate pressures;
• Broadening the European Asylum training curriculum and offering new thematic training courses and strengthening the reception training portfolio.
• Producing more practical guides and tools and coordinating common analyses, country guidance and publications;
• Establishing the independent position of a Fundamental Rights Officer to ensure respect for fundamental rights in all activities of the Agency;
• Enhancing the role, and independence, of the Consultative Forum of Civil Society Organisations;
• Establishing EUAA liaison officers in Member States, as well as in third countries;
• Providing the EUAA with a stronger ability to support third countries in their capacity building;
• Establishing a Complaints Mechanism; and
• Establishing a Monitoring Mechanism, in the future, which will allow the EUAA to monitor the operational and technical application of the CEAS.

Partners and stakeholders can also expect the transition to trigger a change to the logo and general look and feel, to agency staff email addresses and to the agency’s online information platforms including the website. 

EASO looks forward to the formal approval of the final text by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, in anticipation of the mandate entering into effect later this year.