The tasks , Date: 2022.09.13, format: Article, area: Asylum and refugee protection

EU-wide harmonisation of the regulations on protection and reception

Headquartered in Malta, the EUAA acts as the EU’s centre of excellence with regard to the implementation of the CEAS. It promotes practical cooperation between the EU+ Member States, and supports them in implementing EU legislation on asylum, international protection, and reception conditions, in order to help harmonise the national asylum systems. When the Regulation on the EUAA came into force, the tasks and responsibilities of the EUAA were expanded, and the spotlight especially placed on reception.

The EUAA especially provides support by transferring knowledge on asylum and reception, drawing up information leaflets for the asylum procedure, and organising and implementing a joint training programme, as well as via quality-assurance activities and by bundling and evaluating data from the EU+ Member States relevant to migration. The EUAA can moreover take action on request to support national asylum and reception systems, for instance by seconding asylum support teams (AST). The EUAA has set up an Asylum Reserve Pool (ARP) consisting of at least 500 experts from the Member States for special exceptional situations, i.e. when national asylum and reception systems are subject to particular pressure. The ARP can help the Agency to second short-term staff with a wide variety of profiles to Member States which come under particular pressure.

In terms of the EU’s foreign policy, the EUAA is tasked with promoting operative cooperation between the EU Member States and third countries. The focus here is particularly placed on the countries of origin and transit for asylum-related migration, i.e. on the MENA region, the countries in the Western Balkans, and Turkey. The EUAA is able to conclude working agreements with third countries in this area, and can second liaison officers of its own in order to promote the EU’s asylum standards in third countries and support them in establishing and expanding expertise and capacities in national asylum and reception systems.