Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Representatives of the EU Member States (Coreper) approved the provisional agreement reached between the Presidency of the Council of the Union and the European Parliament on 20 December 2023, which constitutes a charter of five key laws that will reform the EU asylum and migration system.
According to what was stated in a statement distributed in Brussels yesterday evening, the statement quoted Nicole De Moors, Belgian Secretary of State for Immigration and Asylum Affairs, whose country holds the current rotating presidency of the Union, as saying: “Member states have affirmed their commitment to improving the European asylum and migration system. These new rules will make the European asylum system more effective and increase solidarity between Member States. This agreement will radically change the way we deal with migration and asylum. “On the ground, on the borders, and within our territories. The agreement will not change the situation on the ground from the first day of its adoption, but we must now be fully committed to implementing what we have decided.”
Asylum and Migration Charter
The five EU laws contained in the Charter deal with all stages of asylum and migration administration.
Updating the Eurodac regulation (the EU fingerprint database) will allow for better processing of irregular movements and monitoring of the routes of asylum seekers and people in an irregular situation throughout the EU.
The aim of the screening regulation is to strengthen control over persons at external borders. It also ensures the prompt identification of the correct procedure – such as returning to their country of origin or starting an asylum procedure – when someone enters the EU without meeting the correct entry conditions.
The Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR) sets out a common procedure that member states must follow when people seek international protection. It simplifies procedural arrangements and sets standards for the rights of asylum seekers. It introduces a mandatory border procedure, aiming to quickly assess at the EU's external borders whether asylum claims are unfounded or inadmissible.
The Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) will replace the current Dublin Regulation. It sets out the rules that determine which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application. In order to achieve balance in the current system where a small number of Member States are responsible for the vast majority of asylum applications, a new solidarity mechanism will be established. The new rules combine mandatory solidarity to support Member States that cannot cope with the number of irregular arrivals into their territories with flexibility for Member States to choose their contributions.
The fifth part of the Charter is a new law that establishes a framework that allows member states to address crisis situations in the field of asylum and migration. They will be allowed to amend certain rules, for example regarding the registration of asylum applications or asylum procedures at the border. On the other hand, these countries will be able to request solidarity and support measures from the European Union and its Member States.
Conditions for reception, rehabilitation and resettlement
The Committee of Permanent Representatives also approved three laws on asylum and migration, on which the Council and Parliament have already reached agreement in 2022. These three laws include a review of the Reception Conditions Directive, an update of the Qualification Regulation and the Regulation on Establishment of the Migration System. EU Resettlement Framework.
The Return Limits Regulation was also approved allowing the application of the agreement to those European countries with different Schengen rules.
Next steps
The laws approved yesterday, Thursday, must be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.

The Asylum Procedures Regulation, the Asylum and Migration Administration Regulation, the Eurodac Regulation, the Examination Regulation and the Crisis Regulation are components of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, proposed by the Commission on 23 September 2020.
The EU Reception Conditions and Qualifications Regulation and Repatriation Framework Directives were proposed in 2016