Reception of asylum-seekers – recast Directive [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Anja Radjenovic (5th edition, updated on 21.11.2023).

States must treat asylum-seekers and refugees according to the appropriate standards laid down in human rights and refugee law. The 2015 migration crisis revealed wide divergences in the level of reception conditions provided by Member States, which have persisted until today. While some are facing problems in ensuring adequate and dignified treatment of applicants, in others the standards of reception provided are more generous. This has led to secondary movements of asylum-seekers and refugees, and has put pressure on certain Member States.

The aim of the proposed recast directive, which would replace the current Reception Conditions Directive, is to ensure greater harmonisation of reception standards and more equal treatment of asylum-seekers across all Member States, as well as to avoid ‘asylum shopping’, whereby asylum-seekers choose the Member State with the highest protection standards for their application.

The European Commission tabled a proposal on a new reception conditions directive in 2016. In 2018, the Parliament and the Council reached a partial provisional agreement on the recast directive. After being blocked since 2018, the two institutions reached a final agreement on the directive on 15 December 2022. However, the agreed text has not been formally adopted pending progress on other related proposals in the asylum and migration field.

Interactive PDF

• November 2023: ‘Reception of asylum-seekers – recast Directive‘ (5th edition)

Visit the European Parliament page on ‘Improving the Common European Asylum System‘.