Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on Minimum Standards on Procedures in Member States for Granting and Withdrawing Refugee Status

Adopted without debate on 1 December 2005. The Directive will now enter into legal force twenty days following publication, namely on 2 January 2006 (under article 45). The deadline for Member States to transpose most of its provisions is 1 December 2007 except for provisions relating to provision of free legal assistance or representation on appeal in article 15, which must be transposed by 1 December 2008 (article 43). (One Member State had argued that more time was needed to transpose the legal assistance obligation because of the financial implications). The Directive will apply to applications for asylum lodged after 1 December 2007, and to procedures for withdrawal of refugee status which begin after 1 December 2007 (article 44). It is noted that this will impose a significant degree of pressure upon states to adopt or amend their laws in due time. The Commission will be required to report on the application of the Directive (and to 'propose any amendments that may be necessary') by 1 December 2009 (article 42). Note however that this reporting obligation is additional to the requirement under the Hague Programme for the Commission to report to the Council on the implementation of ALL of the legal instruments adopted in the first phase of asylum harmonisation, of which this Directive is part. Thus the Commission will be required also in 2007 to report on progress in implementation of these standards.

Articles 29(1) and (2) and 36(3) were annulled by the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) in its judgment of 6 May 2008: European Parliament v. Council of the European Union (C-133/06).