On Thursday 13 June TEPSA, in cooperation with The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Erasmus University Rotterdam, organised a discussion meeting on the European Asylum Support Office and the Common European Asylum System.
Speakers
The Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Rob Visser held a keynote speech on the latest state of play as well as his perspective on the implementation of the CEAS and the functioning of the EASO. MEP Jean Lambert and Kris Pollet (Senior Policy and Legal Officer European Council on Refugees and Exiles) gave their comments. After the presentations there was an exchange with the floor, moderated by Jaap de Zwaan (TEPSA Board member, Professor of European Union Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Lector European Integration at the The Hague University).
Background
The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is provided for in article 78 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It provides that the Union shall develop a common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary protection with a view to offering appropriate status to any third-country national requiring international protection in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement and the 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees. During the first phase of the CEAS (1999 to 2005) four Directives were adopted dealing with minimum standards. EU Member States committed themselves to complete the second phase, the establishment of a Common European Asylum System, by 2012. The deadline of 2012 was not met, negotiations are in a final stage under the Irish Presidency. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) was established in 2010, with the aim of enhancing practical cooperation on asylum matters and helping Member States to fulfil their European and international obligations to give protection to people in need and to contribute to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System.