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(1) The objective of this Regulation is to streamline, simplify and harmonise the procedural arrangements of the Member States by establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union. To meet that objective, a number of substantive changes are made to Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and that Directive should be repealed and replaced by a Regulation. References to the repealed Directive should be construed as references to this Regulation.

(2) A common policy on asylum based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as supplemented by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 (the ‘Geneva Convention’), is a constituent part of the European Union’s objective of establishing progressively an area of freedom, security and justice open to third-country nationals and stateless persons who seek protection in the Union. Such a policy should be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, between the Member States.

(3) The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is based on common standards for asylum procedures, recognition and protection offered at Union level and reception conditions and establishes a system for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection. Notwithstanding the progress that has been made in the development of the CEAS, there are still notable disparities between the Member States as regards the procedures used, the recognition rates, the type of protection granted, the level of material reception conditions and benefits given to applicants and beneficiaries of international protection. Those disparities are important drivers of secondary movements and undermine the objective of ensuring that in the CEAS all applicants are equally treated wherever they apply for international protection in the Union.

(4) In its communication of 6 April 2016‘Towards a Reform of the Common European Asylum System and Enhancing Legal Avenues to Europe’, the Commission set out priority areas where the CEAS should be structurally improved, namely the establishment of a sustainable and fair system for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection, the reinforcement of the Eurodac system, the achievement of greater convergence in the asylum system, the prevention of secondary movements within the Union and an enhanced mandate for the European Union Agency for Asylum established by Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘Asylum Agency’). That communication is in line with calls by the European Council on 18-19 February 2016 to make progress towards reforming the Union’s existing framework so as to ensure a humane, fair and efficient asylum policy. That communication also proposes a way forward in line with the holistic approach to migration set out by the European Parliament in its resolution of 12 April 2016 on the ‘The situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration’.

(5) For a well-functioning CEAS, substantial progress should be made regarding the convergence of national asylum systems. The current disparate asylum procedures in all Member States should be replaced with a common procedure for granting and withdrawing international protection applicable across all Member States pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council , ensuring the timeliness and effectiveness of the procedure. Applications for international protection made by third-country nationals and stateless persons should be examined in a procedure which is governed by the same rules, regardless of the Member State where the application is lodged to ensure equity in the treatment of applications for international protection, clarity and legal certainty for the individual applicant.

(6) This harmonisation and convergence of national asylum systems should be achieved without preventing Member States from introducing or retaining more favourable provisions where provided for by this Regulation.

(7) A common procedure for granting and withdrawing international protection should limit the secondary movements of applicants for international protection between Member States, where such movements would be caused by differences in legal frameworks, by streamlining procedures and by clarifying the rights and obligations of applicants as well as the consequences of non-compliance with those obligations, and create equivalent conditions for the application of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 in Member States.

(8) This Regulation should apply to all applications for international protection made in the territory of the Member States, including those made at the external border, on the territorial sea or in the transit zones of Member States, and to the withdrawal of international protection. Persons seeking international protection who are present on the territorial sea of a Member State should be disembarked on land and have their applications examined in accordance with this Regulation.

(9) This Regulation should apply to applications for international protection in a procedure where it is examined whether the applicants qualify as beneficiaries of international protection in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347. In addition to the international protection, the Member States may also grant other national humanitarian statuses under their national law to those who do not qualify for the refugee status or subsidiary protection status. In order to streamline the procedures in Member States, the Member States should have the possibility to apply this Regulation also to applications for any kind of such other protection.

(10) With respect to the treatment of persons falling within the scope of this Regulation, Member States are bound by obligations under instruments of international law to which they are party.

(11) It should be possible to mobilise the resources of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, as established by the Regulation (EU) 2021/1147 of the European Parliament and of the Council , and other relevant Union funds (the ‘Funds’) to provide support for Member States’ efforts in applying this Regulation, in line with the rules governing the use of the relevant Funds and without prejudice to other priorities supported by the Funds. In this context, Member States should be able to make use of the allocations under their respective programmes, including the amounts made available following the mid-term review. In particular, actions undertaken by Member States for putting in place adequate capacity for carrying out the border procedure can be supported financially by the Funds made available under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. It should be possible to make additional support under the thematic facilities available, in particular to those Member States which might need to increase their capacities at the external borders or are faced with specific pressures on or needs concerning their asylum and reception systems and their external borders.

(12) The Asylum Agency should provide Member States with the necessary operational and technical assistance in the application of this Regulation, in particular by providing experts to assist national authorities to receive and register applications for international protection and to assist the determining authority in the performance of its tasks including as regards the examination of applications for international protection and by providing updated information and analysis on third countries, including country of origin information and guidance on the situation in specific countries of origin. When applying this Regulation, Member States should take into account operational standards, indicators, guidelines and best practices developed by the Asylum Agency.

(13) In the interests of a correct recognition of those persons in need of protection as refugees within the meaning of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention or as persons eligible for subsidiary protection, every applicant should have an effective access to the procedure, the opportunity to cooperate fully and properly communicate with the competent authorities so as, in particular, to present the relevant facts of his or her case and sufficient procedural guarantees to pursue his or her case throughout all stages of the procedure.

(14) The applicant should be provided with an effective opportunity to present all elements available to him or her which substantiate the application or are relevant for the procedures in accordance with this Regulation to the competent authorities. For this reason, the applicant should, subject to limited exceptions, enjoy the right to be heard through a personal interview on the admissibility or on the merits of his or her application, as appropriate. If the applicant is unfit to attend his or her personal interview, the authorities could ask for a medical certification to be provided by the applicant. For the right to a personal interview to be effective, the applicant should be assisted by an interpreter where necessary to ensure appropriate communication and be given the opportunity to provide his or her explanations concerning his or her application in a comprehensive manner. The applicant should be given sufficient time to prepare and consult with his or her legal adviser or other counsellor admitted or permitted as such under national law to provide legal advice(the ‘legal adviser’) or a person entrusted with providing legal counselling. During the interview, the applicant should be allowed to be assisted by the legal adviser. The personal interview should be conducted under conditions which ensure appropriate privacy and confidentiality and by adequately trained and competent staff, including where necessary, experts deployed by the Asylum Agency or staff from authorities of other Member States. Where the interview on the merits is omitted with a view to ensuring swift access to international protection, this should be without prejudice to the obligation to examine whether the applicant fulfils the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 to be granted refugee status before examining whether the applicant fulfils the conditions to be granted subsidiary protection. Given that the personal interview is an essential part of the examination of the application, the interview should be recorded and the applicants, their representatives and their legal advisers should be given access to the report or transcripts of that interview as soon as possible after it takes place and in any case in due time before the determining authority takes a decision.