EASO
European Asylum Support Office Bureau Européen d’Appui pour l’Asile
European Asylum Support Office About us The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is an agency of the European Union set up by virtue of Regulation (EU) 439/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The agency plays a key role in the concrete development of the Common European Asylum System. It was established with the aim of enhancing practical cooperation on asylum matters and helping Member States fulfil their European and international obligations to give protection to people in need. EASO acts as a centre of expertise on asylum. It also provides support to Member States whose asylum and reception systems are under particular pressure.
Support is our mission
The administrative and management structure of EASO The Executive Director: The Executive Director, Dr. Robert K. Visser, is appointed by the Management Board, and is in charge of the day-to-day management of the agency. EASO may also set up working parties composed of experts in the field of asylum
EASO Management Board meeting.
The Management Board: The Management Board is the agency’s planning and monitoring authority. It is composed of representatives of the EU Member States, the European Commission and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The consultative forum: a ‘consultative forum’ has been established to facilitate EASO’s engagement with civil society. This is consulted regularly, and is made up of civil society (including NGOs, academics and the judiciary) and other bodies operating in the field of asylum.
EASO practical cooperation. EASO practical cooperation is a network of experts, from the EU Member States, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein which meets regularly to discuss a variety of policy-related matters. The aim is to improve and maximise convergence on approaches to, and assessment of the protection needs of asylum seekers.
Our Short History • The Tampere European Council of 1999 agreed on the establishment of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS). • The EU 2004 Hague Programme proposed the establishment of the European Asylum Support Office. The Office was conceived to play a crucial role in ensuring practical cooperation between Member States on matters related to asylum.
• On 1 April 2011, EASO and the Greek government signed an agreement on the deployment of asylum support teams to Greece. • On 24 May 2011, the ‘seat agreement’ between the Government of Malta and the EASO was signed. The agreement governs the relationship between the host Member State and the agency. • On 19 June 2011, EASO was officially inaugurated in Malta. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, participated in the ceremony in Valletta.
• The European Commission proposed the creation of EASO on 18 February 2009. • On 30 November 2009, at the Justice and Home Affairs Council, ministers unanimously agreed that EASO would be hosted in Malta. • In the first quarter of 2010, the European Parliament and the Council agreed on the creation of EASO and it was established on 19 May 2010. • On 1 February 2011, EASO became operational as an EU agency.
EASO becomes fully operational: Dr Visser, EASO Executive Director, Commissioner Malmström and Mifsud Bonnici, Malta’s Minister for Home Affairs and Local Government, signing a declaration to this effect on 19 June 2011.
What we do The European Union is working towards a Common European Asylum System. The aim is to ensure that individual asylum cases are dealt with in a coherent way by different Member States. EASO applies a bottom-up approach to provide practical support to Member States.
EASO’s focus points are: • Permanent support: supporting and stimulating a common high quality of the asylum process by common training, a common asylum curriculum, common services;
EASO building in Malta
• Special support: tailor-made assistance and capacity building and special quality-control; • Emergency support: organising solidarity for Member States confronted with particular pressures by providing temporary support and assistance to readjust or rebuild the asylum system; • Information support: collecting, sharing and processing information and data and common trend analysis and assessment (e.g. early warning); • Solidarity support: facilitating Member States in resettlement and relocation; • External dimension: providing support through partnerships with third countries to reach common solutions (e.g. by capacity building and regional protection programmes).
Preparedness: • EASO provides tools aimed at supporting Member States to be fully prepared, for example by providing training.
Crisis management: • EASO has a primary task of supporting Member States facing particular pressures. This is done through a number of measures such as the deployment of asylum support teams.
EASO training EASO contribution to the Mechanism for Early Warning, Preparedness and Crisis Management In order to enable Member States to be better prepared for possible asylum crises, the European Union is setting up a ‘Mechanism for Early Warning, Preparedness and Crisis Management’. EASO contributes to this system in the following manner:
Early warning: • EASO provides, on a regular basis, a regional outlook with an analysis of asylum trends and push–pull factors, as well as risk scenarios. This is based on data provided by Member States, Eurostat, Frontex, the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration, among others, combined with up-to-date country of origin information produced by EASO.
EASO provides training and develops training materials in support of the enhancement of quality and harmonisation in the area of asylum, ultimately contributing to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. The cornerstone of EASO training activities is the European asylum curriculum (EAC), a common vocational training system designed for asylum officials throughout the EU. The EAC covers core aspects of the asylum procedure in interactive modules. EASO will also develop a training curriculum for the judiciary and engage in other relevant training initiatives. These include the development of training in cooperation with other EU agencies or relevant actors in the field of asylum. In addition to the permanent support activities, EASO delivers ad hoc training sessions in response to the specific needs of Member States under particular pressure. To this end it has delivered training sessions in Greece and Luxemburg in 2012.
Country of origin information (COI) refers to information on countries from which asylum seekers originate. This sort of information is essential for asylum officials during the asylum determination process. COI can play a significant role in the implementation of a Common European Asylum System. In the field of COI, EASO: • gathers targeted, relevant, reliable, accurate and up-todate country of origin information in a transparent and impartial manner; • manages and further develops the EU’s common COI portal, which provides a common entry point to information and offers additional resources for Member States; • elaborates a common format and methodology for researching and presenting information on countries of origin to foster harmonisation of COI practices; • drafts country of origin reports reflecting this common format and methodology; in 2012, it will publish a report on Afghanistan; • organises practical cooperation workshops to share COI, discuss practices and respond to the different information needs of Member States.
For more information contact EASO on: E-mail: HOME-EASO-NOTIFICATION@ec.europa.eu Telephone: +356 22 48 75 00.
More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2012 ISBN 978-92-95079-02-1 doi:10.2847/11521 © European Asylum Support Office, 2012 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Focus: Asylum support teams WHAT is an asylum support team (AST)? ASTs are multidisciplinary teams of EU experts deployed by EASO in a Member State for a limited time in order to support the asylum system of that Member State. Such experts are made available by Member States and are included in an EASO ‘asylum intervention pool’.
WHAT kind of support may an AST provide? ASTs may provide any support agreed by EASO and the Member State subject to particular pressure, aiming at preparing its asylum system and managing the situation of particular pressure. ASTs may provide expertise in relation to, among other matters, reception, training, information on countries of origin and knowledge of the handling and management of asylum cases, including those of vulnerable groups.
HOW can an AST be deployed? ASTs may be deployed by EASO at the request of a Member State subject to particular pressure on its asylum system, including its reception facilities. ASTs may be deployed by a decision of the Executive Director at the request of a Member State subject to particular pressure. EASO’s Executive Director and the minister of the requesting Member State then sign an agreement which stipulates the actions to be implemented by ASTs. The EASO’s Executive Director shall determine the composition of the ASTs. Costs related to the deployment of ASTs shall be covered by EASO.
BZ-30-12-563-EN-C
Country of origin information