VI.2.4.2 Minimum standards for reception conditions

Main Debate

  • Has the EU set an adequate standard for reception conditions?

Main Points

  • Purposes of EU power over reception conditions
  • Objectives of the Reception Conditions Directive
  • Level of obligations in the Directive
  • Exceptions from obligations

EU Documents

  1. Directive 2013/33/EU of 26 June 2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast), OJ L 180/96, 29 June 2013.
  2. Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers.
  3. Report from the Commission to the Council and to the European Parliament on the application of Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers, COM (2007) 745.

UNHCR Documents

  1. UNHCR, ’Annotated Comments on Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers’, 1 July 2003.
  2. UNHCR intervention before the Court of Justice of the EU in the cases of N.S. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department in United Kingdom; M.E. and Others v. Refugee Application Commissioner and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in Ireland, 1 February 2011, C-411/10 and C-493/10.

Cases

  1. Saciri and Others, C-79/13, Court of Justice of the European Union, reference from the Arbeidshof te Brussels (Belgium), 15 February 2013.
  2. Abdullahi v. Bundesasylamt, C-394/12, Court of Justice of the European Union, 10 December 2013.
  3. Cimade and Groupe d'information et de soutien des immigrés (GISTI) v. Ministry of Interior, C-179/11, Court of Justice of the European Union, 27 September 2012.
  4. N.S. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department: M.E. & others v Refugee Applications Commissioner, joined cases C-411/10 and C-493/10,  Court of Justice of the European Union, 11 December 2011.
  5. M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Grand Chamber, European Court of Human Rights, 21 January 2011 (see also Section VI.1.2).

Readings

Core

  1. M. Garlick, ’Asylum-seekers and people in need of international protection’ in E. Guild, S. Carrera and K. Eisele (eds), Social Benefits and Migration: A contested relationship and policy challenge in the EU (Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies, 2013).
  2. E. Guild, ‘Seeking Asylum: Storm Clouds between International Commitments and EU Legislative Measures’, European Law Review, vol. 29 (2004), pp. 198–218.

Extended

  1. N. Rogers, ‘Minimum Standards for Reception’, European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 4 (2002), pp. 215–230.

Editor’s Note

  • Is the recast Directive likely to raise standards anywhere?
  • What disputes might arise concerning its interpretation?
  • What are the consequences (legal and otherwise) of States’ failure to respect their obligations to provide minimum reception conditions in practice?

 VI.2.4.2 Minimum Standards for Reception ConditionsVI.2.4.2 Minimum Standards for Reception Conditions

EU DocumentsEU Documents

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1Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers.Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers.Empty

UNHCR DocumentsUNHCR Documents

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1UNHCR, Annotated Comments on Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, 1 July 2003.UNHCR, Annotated Comments on Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, 1 July 2003.Empty

CasesCases

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1M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Grand Chamber.M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Grand Chamber.Empty