Common European Asylum System: what's at stake?
On 12 June, MEPs are expected to approve the architecture of the new EU asylum policy, which lays down common procedures and deadlines for handling applications, ensures a basic set of rights for asylum seekers from the moment they enter the EU and bans transfers of asylum applicants to member states unable to ensure decent living conditions for them.
The new rules, already agreed by Parliament and national governments, will be debated by Parliament as a whole on 11 June and put to a vote the next day. Some 330,000 asylum applicants were registered in EU countries in 2012.
Next steps
If Parliament approves these rules, the new system take effect in the second half of 2015.
The Dublin rules on transfers of asylum seekers will take effect six months after their legal entry into force (i.e. at the start of 2014).