Who is Who - Who is Who in International Protection in the EU+: Asylum Authorities

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Who is Who in International Protection in the EU+: Asylum Authorities

Within the Common European Asylum System, the recast Asylum Procedures Directive (APD) establishes a common policy and procedures to grant and withdraw international protection. The directive foresees that “all Member States shall designate for all procedures a determining authority which will be responsible for an appropriate examination of applications in accordance with this directive”.

Overview of asylum authorities

The data visualisation presents the national authority which is responsible for the examination of an application for international protection in each EU+ country.

Hover over a country and “click for more” to view the following information for each asylum authority:

General information on each position in the institutional structure
Areas of activity (e.g. asylum, reception, migration)
Legal status based on the following classification:

Government agency (independent authority)
Federal agency (independent authority)
Government entity forming part of the Ministry
Law enforcement agency

Role and competencies
(Internal) organisational structure
Legal basis
Hyperlinks to official websites and social media channels.

Issue 1: Asylum authorities in the EU+
Who is Who in International Protection: Asylum authorities in the EU+

Key findings

Based on the comparative overview:

21 asylum authorities fall under a ministry (at the national/federal level), while 8 are established as independent authorities at the national/federal level. In two countries, the asylum authorities are part of law enforcement bodies.

Italy is the only country where a separation of roles is made between the asylum authority (National Commission for the Right of Asylum) and the decision-makingauthorities (Territorial Commissions).

The competences of national authorities cover both asylum and reception procedures in 15 EU+ countries. Only 10 authorities focus specifically on asylum procedures only.

Asylum authorities have invested in their official websites to enhance their digital presence (all authorities have an official website). Many also have various social media channels.

Out of 31 national authorities:
16 have a Facebook page
15 have a Twitter account
13 have created a YouTube channel
12 have LinkedIn pages