EU Asylum Legislation and Policy
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) plays an integral role in helping EU Member States apply the package of EU laws that comprise the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).
The CEAS establishes the legally binding rules and procedures that Member States must follow to guarantee that the rights of applicants for international protection are fully respected in Europe, in accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto.
On this page, you can learn more about the legal basis for the Agency’s work as well as consult the different laws that make up the EU’s legislation in the area of international protection. Other key texts, including those governing the EU’s most important migration management processes, as well as the Geneva Convention itself, can also be consulted here.
Legal Basis:
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Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 establishing the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and repealing the European Asylum Support Office.
- Council Decision 2010/762/EU establishing the Seat of the Agency, in Valletta, Malta.
Common European Asylum System
- Directive 2001/55/EC on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons
- Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection
- Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection
- Directive 2013/33/EU laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection
- Regulation EU No 603/2013 establishing "Eurodac” for comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the "Dublin Regulation"
- Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection [the Dublin Regulation]
- Regulation (EU) No 118/2014 laying down detailed rules for the application of the “Dublin Regulation”
EU Migration Legislation (Other)
- Council Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification
- Council Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents
- Directive 2008/115/EC on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals
International Conventions
- Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its Protocol (1967)
- European Convention of Human Rights (1953), and its Protocol No. 4 including the prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens (1963).
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)