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Procedural rules for withdrawal of international protection

1. Where the determining authority or, where provided for by national law, a competent court or tribunal starts the examination to withdraw international protection from a third-country national or a stateless person, the person concerned shall enjoy the following guarantees:

(a) he or she shall be informed in writing that his or her qualification as a beneficiary of international protection is being reconsidered and the reasons for such reconsideration;

(b) he or she shall be informed of the obligation to cooperate with the determining authority and other competent authorities, in particular of the fact that he or she shall be required to make a written statement and appear for a personal interview or a hearing and answer questions;

(c) he or she shall be informed of the consequences of not cooperating with the determining authority and other competent authorities and that failure to submit the written statement and to attend the personal interview or the hearing without due justification shall not prevent the determining authority or the competent court or tribunal from taking a decision to withdraw international protection; and (d) he or she shall be given the opportunity to submit reasons as to why his or her international protection should not be withdrawn by means of a written statement within reasonable time from the date on which he or she receives the information referred to in point (a) and in a personal interview or hearing at a date set by the determining authority or, where provided for by national law, the competent court or tribunal.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the determining authority or the competent court or tribunal:

(a) shall obtain relevant, precise and up-to-date information from relevant and available national, Union and international sources and, where available, take into account the common analysis on the situation in a specific country of origin and the guidance notes referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303; and (b) shall not obtain any information from the alleged actors of persecution or serious harm in a manner that would result in such actors being informed of the fact that the person concerned is a beneficiary of international protection whose status is under reconsideration.

3. The decision to withdraw international protection shall be given in writing as soon as possible. The reasons in fact and in law for the withdrawal shall be stated in the decision and information on the manner on how to challenge the decision and on the relevant time limits shall be given in writing.

4. Where the determining authority or, where provided for by national law, a competent court or tribunal has taken the decision to withdraw international protection, Articles 6, 17, 18 and 19 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

5. Where the third-country national or stateless person does not cooperate by not submitting a written statement, by not attending the personal interview or the hearing, or by not answering questions without due justification, the absence of the written statement or the personal interview or hearing shall not prevent the determining authority or the competent court or tribunal from taking a decision to withdraw international protection. Such a refusal to cooperate may only be considered to be a rebuttable presumption that the third-country national or stateless person no longer wishes to benefit from international protection.

6. The procedure set out in this Article shall not apply where the third-country national or stateless person:

(a) unequivocally renounces his or her recognition as beneficiary of international protection;

(b) has become a national of a Member State; or (c) has subsequently been granted international protection in another Member State. Member States shall conclude the cases covered by this paragraph in accordance with their national law. That conclusion need not take the form of a decision but shall be recorded at least in the applicant’s file together with the indication of the legal ground for that conclusion.