EU: Statewatch Analysis: Revising the ‘Dublin’ rules on responsibility for asylum-seekers: Further developments by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, Law School, University of Essex

“The EP and Council reached a tentative deal on the revision of the ‘Dublin Regulation’, which allocates responsibility for asylum-seekers to a single Member State, in June 2012. This was the subject of a detailed Statewatch analysis at the time, which concluded that it was a ‘missed opportunity’ to reform these flawed rules more fundamentally. “However, for the Member States’ permanent representatives to the EU (known as ‘Coreper’), this deal was too generous: they objected to the change in rules relating to unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers and to the rules intended to limit the time period of detention of asylum-seekers subject to the Dublin process. Following further talks, the EP and the Council have reached a revised tentative deal, although this is subject to some ‘technical’ amendments by the Council and further discussions on the procedure for adopting measures implementing the Regulation (known as ‘comitology’).” See: Full analysis (pdf)