Press Release: Commission welcomes Council’s agreement on Common European Asylum System

The Council formally adopted on 30 April 2004 the Directive on a common definition of who is a refugee or otherwise requires international protection and the rights and benefits which attach to each status (the Qualification Directive). The Council also reached political agreement on the Asylum Procedures Directive, in which Member States take a common approach to processing asylum applications in the EU. These Directives, together with the other legislative instruments on asylum already adopted by the Council guarantee a minimum level of protection and procedural safeguards in all Member States for those who are genuinely in need of international protection, whilst preventing abuses of asylum applications which undermine the credibility of the system.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/justice_home/fsj/asylum/fsj_asylum_intro_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/comm/justice_home/fsj/asylum/fsj_asylum_intro_en.htm

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