The Asylum Procedures Directive (Directive 2013/32/EU) establishes rules on the process of claiming asylum, including on how to apply, how the application will be examined, what help the asylum seeker will be given, how to appeal or how to deal with repeated applications.

The improved efficiency and quality of the asylum process should (a) enable MS to quicker distinguish between asylum seekers and other migrants in mixed arrivals, thus optimising labour and administrative resources needed to establish and complete applicable procedures (return, asylum, humanitarian status, extradition etc.); (b) allow the asylum authorities to take robust decisions, based on complete and properly established factual circumstances of the claim, improve the defendability of negative decisions and reduce risk of their annulment by appeal bodies; (c) enable the asylum personnel to better identify cases of unfo ...[+++]unded and abusive applications, including those based on false identity or nationality ; (d) reduce MS' reception costs and support their efforts to remove failed asylum seekers from the territory since quality determinations will be delivered quicker and more cases will result in a final decision already in the first instance.

The Council calls on the Commission to finalise the outstanding administrative procedures with the African Union and, as may be appropriate, with sub-regional organisations as defined in the financing proposal with a view to early operationalisation of the Facility.

The adoption of this last outstanding Directive of the first phase of the harmonisation of asylum in the EU will allow the Commission to start the necessary work to achieve the ambitious objective of a Common European Asylum System by 2010, as set out in the Hague Programme, comprising a common asylum procedure and a uniform status for persons in need of international protection

13. To further explore these assertions two studies on options for processing asylum claims external to the EU were commissioned by the Commission: the Study on the feasibility of processing asylum claims outside the EU against the background of the common European asylum system and the goal of a common asylum procedure (published in March 2003), and the Study on the feasibility of setting up resettlement schemes in EU Member States or at EU level against the background of the Common European Asylum System and the goal of a Common Asy ...[+++]lum Procedure

Support for activities in the area of asylum will cover: promoting the establishment and operation of the common European asylum system, leading to a common asylum procedure and a uniform status; facilitating the determination of the state responsible for examining an asylum application; support for the approximation of rules on recognition and content of protection status; promoting the efficiency and fairness of the asylum procedure and increasing convergence in decisions; developing resettlement programmes, entry facilities and ...[+++] legal means for admission into Member States on humanitarian grounds.