EU Immigration and Asylum Policy – The Hague Programme and the way forward

The Common European Asylum System (“CEAS”), as defined in the Tampere and the Hague Programme, was intended to be built in two phases. The author gives an overview of three measures adopted between 2003 and 2005: “the Reception Directive” (Council Directive 2003/9/EC), “the Qualification Directive” (Council Directive 2004/83/EC) and “the Procedures Directive” (Council Directive 2005/85/EC). The author concludes his article with some final reflections on the Green Paper of June 2007 on the second phase in the development of a common European system of asylum, entailing the approximation of national asylum procedures, legal standards and reception conditions.