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EU: Statewatch Analysis: The Common European Asylum System: State-of-play update by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex

05 December 2012

"It is too soon to say whether the amendment to the asylum procedures directive will be only a marginal improvement on the existing legislation, or a more substantial shift towards higher standards. However, the two recent developments mentioned above are both very unfortunate – the Member States failed (until now, at least) to agree to establish special procedural protection for those asylum-seekers who are in most need, and the EP foolishly passed up the Council’s offer to set a final time limit for all asylum decisions. Instead it suggested a possible indefinite wait for a decision – even as the Council was willing to accept the principle (rightly defended by the EP) of an absolute time limit! One can only hope that the EP’s negotiating skills improve sufficiently to ensure that the second-phase Directive entails a solid improvement in this field, in order to guarantee that asylum applications are examined fairly across the European Union."

See: Analysis (pdf)