Common European Asylum System in a Changing World

2. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR EU IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM POLICY (KEY POINTS)

2.1 EU Immigration Law •

An overview on visas and external border controls The European Union’s migration and asylum policy has developed in close connection by the creation of the Schengen Agreement of 1985. The abolition of border controls within it has, on the one hand, limited the competences of the Member States, but on the other it has created the need to create a single asylum control regime. Therefore, the Schengen Implementation Agreement of 1990 also included provisions on the examination of asylum applications by Member State authorities. Along with the creation of the Schengen area, the Dublin Convention was concluded, to which the EU Member States that did not participate in the Schengen agreements were also party. The agreement merely defined the rules for determining the jurisdiction of Member State authorities for the examination of asylum applications. This was to avoid speculative choice of jurisdiction, which, prior to the convention, had the greatest burden on the Member States with the most liberal conditions for receiving asylum applications (forum shopping). The Dublin Convention entered into force after a lengthy ratification process in 1997. However, its impact on Member States’ acceptance practices was modest. On the level of primary EU law, the cooperation on immigration policy was formally introduced in the Maastricht Treaty which established Justice and Home Affairs as one of the EU’s ‘three pillars’. The Justice and Home Affairs pillar was organised on an intergovernmental basis with little involvement of the European Commission and the European Parliament. Another milestone in the development of transnational immigration and asylum policies was the adoption of the Amsterdam Treaty . A new Title IIIa on visa, asylum and immigration policies has been added to the Treaty establishing the European Community. These new Treaty provisions set the legal basis for the adoption of secondary legislation in the field of immigration and asylum procedures. TheEuropeanCouncil, at its specialmeeting inTampereon15and16October 1999, agreed to work towards establishing a Common European Asylum System, based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 (‘the Geneva Convention’), thus affirming the principle of non-refoulement and ensuring that nobody is sent back to persecution. Following the Tampere summit, a number of harmonization rules were adopted in order to create a minimum standard of regulation (the so-called first phase legal instrument). Only later, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed in 2007, which elaborated upon foundation for the European Union’s common asylum policy. Along with the development of the treaty foundations for immigration and asylum policies, institutions have been established to facilitate the implementation of these policies. The Frontex agency was established in 2004 to ensure the protection of the external borders of the Schengen States. It is based in Warsaw. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO), located in the Maltese capital of Valetta, has been set up to coordinate the asylum

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