Reforming asylum and migration management [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Anja Radjenovic (3rd edition, updated on 27.05.2024).

In September 2020, the European Commission submitted a proposal on asylum and migration management, to replace the 2013 Dublin Regulation that determines the EU Member State responsible for examining asylum applications. While the proposal ‘essentially preserves’ the current criteria for determining this responsibility, it would also make changes and additions to the regulation, especially on solidarity and responsibility-sharing for asylum-seekers among Member States.

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The proposal comes after a failed attempt to reform EU asylum policy following the 2015 migration crisis. While the migratory context has changed since, both in terms of arrivals and the composition of flows, the migration situation remains fragile, as evidenced by pressures on national asylum systems and continual disembarkations after search and rescue operations. According to the Commission, addressing this situation requires a relaunch of the reform of the common European asylum system to achieve a more efficient, fair and harmonised framework that is more resistant to future migratory pressures. The new system would ensure international protection to those who need it and be effective and humane towards those who have to be returned.

On 20 December 2023, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the proposal. The Parliament adopted the agreed text at first reading at its plenary session of 10 April 2024, and Coreper approved the agreement on 8 February 2024. After the presidents of both institutions signed the regulation on 14 May 2024, it was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 22 May 2024. The regulation enters into force in June 2024 and into application on 1 July 2026.

Complete version

• May 2024: Reforming asylum and migration management (3rd edition)