Temporary Protection Directive of 2001

In News

• Recently, EU Member States made the unprecedented decision to activate the European Union’s Council Directive 2001, known as the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD).

Temporary Protection Directive 

• Origin and History: 
  • The Temporary Protection Directive was created in 2001 following conflicts during the 1990s in the Balkans to manage a ‘mass influx of displaced persons’.
  • It was meant to provide a tool to ensure a ‘balance of efforts’ between EU member states to alleviate pressure on national asylum systems. 
  • The resulting ‘temporary protection’ emergency mechanism provides displaced persons with the same rights across the EU, including:
    • Rights to reside for up to three years, employment, housing, medical assistance and access to education for children.
• Description: 
  • Described as an “exceptional measure to provide immediate and temporary protection to displaced persons from non-EU countries and those unable to return to their country of origin”.
• Applicable when:
  • There is a risk that the standard asylum system is struggling to cope with demand stemming from a mass influx risking a negative impact on the processing of claims.
• Purpose of Directive:
  • It reduces disparities between the policies of EU States on the reception and treatment of displaced persons in a situation of mass influx. 
  • It promotes solidarity and burden-sharing among EU States with respect to receiving large numbers of potential refugees at one time.
• Invocation: 
  • The war in Ukraine is the first time that the EU has invoked the TPD. 
  • This will be in place initially for one year with the possibility to automatically extend it for up to another year.
  • It is being seen as another sign of European unity against Russia.
• Eligibility:
  • Those eligible for this ‘temporary protection’ include Ukrainian nationals and third country nationals if they resided in Ukraine before or on 24 February 2022.
• Miscellaneous:
  • The Council decision also mentions that Ukrainian nationals ‘as visa-free travellers, have the right to move freely within the Union after being admitted into the territory for a 90-day period’.
  • Also, they are able to choose the Member State in which they want to enjoy the rights attached to temporary protection’ – this will help to facilitate ‘a balance of efforts’ between member states.

Common European Asylum System

• Area of protection: 
  • The European Union is an area of protection for people fleeing persecution or serious harm in their country of origin.
• Fundamental Right: 
  • Asylum is a fundamental right and an international obligation for countries, as recognised in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees.
• Protection for refugees: 
  • In the EU, an area of open borders and freedom of movement, member countries share the same fundamental values and joint approach to guarantee high standards of protection for refugees.
  • EU countries have a shared responsibility to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner, ensuring that they are treated fairly and their case is examined following uniform standards. 
    • This ensures that, no matter where an applicant applies, the outcome will be similar. 
    • Procedures must be fair, effective throughout the EU, and impervious to abuse.
• Asylum flows are not constant, nor are they evenly distributed across the EU. They have, for example, varied from over 1.8 million in 2015 to around 142,000 in 2019, a decrease of 92%.
• CEAS Origin: 
  • Since 1999, the EU has established a Common European Asylum System (CEAS). 
  • In 2020, the European Commission proposed to reform the system through a comprehensive approach to migration and asylum policy based on three main pillars:
    • efficient asylum and return procedures,
    • solidarity and fair share of responsibility and
    • strengthened partnerships with third countries.

Brexit’s Impact

• Following its departure from the EU, the UK is no longer a part of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) within which the Temporary Protection Directive applies.
• The 2001 adoption of the Temporary Protection Directive came together with five other legislative instruments adopted from 1999 to 2005 establishing the minimum standards for asylum. 
  • Those five other instruments being:
    • the Eurodac Regulation, 
    • the Reception of Asylum Seekers Directive, 
    • the Dublin Regulation, 
    • the Qualification Directive and 
    • the Asylum Procedures Directive.
• Not formal: 
  • As the UK and EU reached no agreement on asylum policy in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK has no formal way of participating in the EU’s ‘temporary protection’ mechanism or other CEAS instruments.
• However, it is not likely the UK Government would want to participate in the ‘temporary protection’ scheme. 

Conclusion

• The temporary protection does not automatically mean the person is granted asylum. 
• Displaced Ukrainians can bring their personal belongings without being subject to traditional customs duties.

Source: IE