Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted, amending Council Directive 2003/109/EC and repealing Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down standards for:

(a) the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection;

(b) a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection;

(c) the content of the international protection granted.

Article 2

Material scope

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘refugee status’ means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a refugee;

(2) ‘subsidiary protection status’ means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a person eligible for subsidiary protection;

(3) ‘international protection’ means refugee status or subsidiary protection status;

(4) ‘beneficiary of international protection’ means a person who has been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status;

(5) ‘refugee’ means a third-country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person, who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 does not apply;

(6) ‘person eligible for subsidiary protection’ means a third-country national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that that person, if returned to his or her country of origin or, in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15, and to whom Article 17(1) and (2) does not apply, and is unable or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country;

(7) ‘application for international protection’ means a request made by a third-country national or a stateless person for protection from a Member State, who can be understood to seek refugee status or subsidiary protection status;

(8) ‘applicant’ means a third-country national or a stateless person who has made an application for international protection in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;

(9) ‘family members’ means, in so far as the family already existed before the applicant arrived on the territory of the Member States, the following members of the family of the beneficiary of international protection who are present on the territory of the same Member State in relation to the application for international protection: (a) the spouse of the beneficiary of international protection or his or her unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the law or practice of the Member State concerned treats unmarried couples as equivalent to married couples; (b) the minor or adult dependent children of the couples referred to in point (a) or of the beneficiary of international protection, provided that they are unmarried and regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock or adopted as provided for under national law; a minor is considered unmarried provided that, on the basis of an individual assessment, the minor’s marriage would not be in accordance with the relevant national law had it been contracted in the Member State concerned, having regard, in particular, to the legal age of marriage; (c) where the beneficiary of international protection is a minor and unmarried, the father, mother or another adult responsible for that beneficiary, including an adult sibling, whether by the law or practice of the Member State concerned; a minor is considered unmarried provided that, on the basis of an individual assessment, the minor’s marriage would not be in accordance with the relevant national law had it been contracted in the Member State concerned, having regard, in particular, to the legal age of marriage;

(10) ‘minor’ means a third-country national or stateless person below the age of 18 years;

(11) ‘unaccompanied minor’ means a minor who arrives on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her whether by the law or practice of the Member State concerned, and for as long as that minor is not effectively taken into the care of such an adult, including a minor who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of the Member States;

(12) ‘residence permit’ means an authorisation issued by the authorities of a Member State, in a uniform format as laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002, which allows a third-country national or stateless person to reside legally on its territory;

(13) ‘country of origin’ means the country or countries of nationality or, for stateless persons, of former habitual residence;

(14) ‘withdrawal of international protection’ means a decision by a determining authority or a competent court or tribunal to revoke or end, including by refusing to renew, international protection;

(15) ‘determining authority’ means a quasi-judicial or administrative body in a Member State which is responsible for examining applications for international protection and is competent to take decisions at the administrative stage of the procedure;

(16) ‘social security’ means the branches of social security set out in Article 3(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(17) ‘social assistance’ means benefits granted with the objective of ensuring that the basic needs of those who lack sufficient resources are met;

(18) ‘guardian’ means a natural person or an organisation, including a public body, designated by the competent authorities to assist, represent and act on behalf of an unaccompanied minor, as applicable, in order to ensure that the unaccompanied minor can benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations under this Regulation, while safeguarding his or her best interests and general well-being.

CHAPTER II

ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

Article 4

Submission of information and assessment of facts and circumstances

The elements referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of the following:

(a) the applicant’s statements; and

(b) all the documentation at the applicant’s disposal regarding the following: (i) the applicant’s reasons for applying for international protection; (ii) the applicant’s age; (iii) the applicant’s background, including that of relevant family members and other relatives; (iv) the applicant’s identity; (v) the applicant’s nationality or nationalities; (vi) the applicant’s country or countries and place or places of previous residence; (vii) previous applications for international protection from the applicant; (viii) the results of any resettlement or humanitarian admission procedure relating to the applicant as defined by Regulation (EU) 2024/1350; (ix) the applicant’s travel routes; and (x) the applicant’s travel documents.

Where one or more particular aspects of the applicant’s statements are not supported by documentary or other evidence, no additional evidence shall be required in respect of those particular aspects where the following conditions are met:

(a) the applicant has made a genuine effort to substantiate his or her application for international protection;

(b) all relevant elements at the applicant’s disposal have been submitted and a satisfactory explanation has been given regarding any lack of other relevant elements;

(c) the applicant’s statements are found to be coherent and plausible and do not run counter to available specific and general information relevant to the applicant’s case;

(d) the general credibility of the applicant has been established, taking into account, inter alia, the time at which the applicant applied for international protection.

Article 5

International protection needs arising sur place

A well-founded fear of being persecuted or a real risk of suffering serious harm may be based on:

(a) events which have taken place since the applicant left the country of origin; or

(b) activities which the applicant has engaged in since the applicant left the country of origin, in particular where it is established that the activities relied upon constitute the expression and continuation of convictions, beliefs or orientations held in the country of origin.

Article 6

Actors of persecution or serious harm

Actors of persecution or serious harm can be:

(a) the State;

(b) parties or organisations controlling the State or a substantial part of the territory of the State;

(c) non-State actors, if it can be demonstrated that the actors referred to in Article 7(1) are unable or unwilling to provide protection against persecution or serious harm.

Article 7

Actors of protection

Only the following actors can provide protection against persecution or serious harm, provided that they are able and willing to provide effective and non-temporary protection in accordance with paragraph 2:

(a) the State;

(b) stable, established non-State authorities, including international organisations, which control the State or a substantial part of the territory of the State.

Article 8

Internal protection alternative

Where the State or agents of the State are not the actors of persecution or serious harm, the determining authority shall examine, as part of the assessment of the application for international protection, whether an applicant is not in need of international protection because the applicant can safely and legally travel to and gain admittance to a part of the country of origin and can reasonably be expected to settle there and whether, in that part of the country, the applicant:

(a) has no well-founded fear of being persecuted or does not face a real risk of suffering serious harm; or

(b) has access to effective and non-temporary protection against persecution or serious harm.

The determining authority may only carry out an examination as referred to in paragraph 1 where it is clearly established that the risk of persecution or serious harm stems from an actor whose power is clearly limited to a specific geographical area or where the State itself only has control over certain parts of the country.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, the determining authority shall take into account:

(a) the general circumstances prevailing in the relevant part of the country of origin, including the accessibility, effectiveness and durability of the protection referred to in Article 7;

(b) the personal circumstances of the applicant in relation to factors such as health, age, gender, including gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin and membership of a national minority; and

(c) whether the applicant would be able to cater for his or her own basic needs.

CHAPTER III

QUALIFICATION FOR BEING A REFUGEE

Article 9

Acts of persecution

An act shall be regarded as an act of persecution within the meaning of Article 1(A) of the Geneva Convention where it is:

(a) sufficiently serious by its nature or repetition as to constitute a severe violation of basic human rights, in particular the rights from which derogation cannot be made under Article 15(2) of the ECHR; or

(b) an accumulation of various measures, including violations of human rights, which is sufficiently severe as to affect an individual in a similar manner to an act referred to in point (a).

Acts of persecution as qualified in paragraph 1 may, inter alia, take the form of:

(a) acts of physical or mental violence, including acts of sexual violence;

(b) legal, administrative, police or judicial measures which are in themselves discriminatory or which are implemented in a discriminatory manner;

(c) prosecution or punishment which is disproportionate or discriminatory;

(d) denial of judicial redress resulting in a disproportionate or discriminatory punishment;

(e) prosecution or punishment for refusal to perform military service in a conflict, where performing military service would include crimes or acts falling within the scope of the grounds for exclusion as set out in Article 12(2);

(f) acts of a gender-specific or child-specific nature.

Article 10

Reasons for persecution

The following elements shall be taken into account when assessing the reasons for persecution:

(a) the concept of race shall, in particular, include considerations of colour, descent, or membership of a particular ethnic group;

(b) the concept of religion shall, in particular, include the holding of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, the participation in, or abstention from, formal worship in private or in public, either alone or in community with others, other religious acts or expressions of view, or forms of personal or communal conduct based on or mandated by any religious belief;

(c) the concept of nationality shall not be confined to citizenship or lack thereof but shall, in particular, include membership of a group determined by its cultural, ethnic, or linguistic identity, common geographical or political origins or its relationship with the population of another State;

(d) the concept of membership of a particular social group shall include, in particular, membership of a group: (i) whose members share or are perceived to share an innate characteristic or a common background that cannot be changed, or a characteristic or belief that is so fundamental to identity or conscience that a person should not be forced to renounce it; and (ii) which has a distinct identity in the relevant country, because it is perceived as being different by the surrounding society;

(e) the concept of political opinion shall, in particular, include the holding of an opinion, thought or belief on a matter related to the potential actors of persecution mentioned in Article 6 and to their policies or methods, whether or not that opinion, thought or belief has been acted upon by the applicant.

Depending on the circumstances in the country of origin, the concept of membership of a particular social group as referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph shall include membership of a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation. Gender related aspects, including gender identity and gender expression, shall be given due consideration for the purposes of determining membership of a particular social group or identifying a characteristic of such a group.

Article 11

Cessation

A third-country national or a stateless person shall cease to be a refugee where one or more of the following apply:

(a) the third-country national has voluntarily re-availed himself or herself of the protection of the country of nationality;

(b) having lost his or her nationality, the third-country national or stateless person has voluntarily re-acquired it;

(c) the third-country national or stateless person has acquired a new nationality and enjoys the protection of the country of that new nationality;

(d) the third-country national or stateless person has voluntarily re-established himself or herself in the country which he or she left or outside which he or she remained owing to a fear of being persecuted;

(e) the third-country national can no longer, because the circumstances in connection with which he or she has been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail himself or herself of the protection of the country of nationality;

(f) the stateless person is able, because the circumstances in connection with which he or she has been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, to return to the country of former habitual residence.

Points (e) and (f) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to a refugee who is able to invoke compelling reasons arising out of previous persecution for refusing to avail himself or herself of the protection of the country of nationality or, being a stateless person, of the country of former habitual residence.

In order to assess whether points (e) and (f) of paragraph 1, first subparagraph, apply, the determining authority shall:

(a) take into account precise and up-to-date information obtained from relevant and available national, Union and international sources and, where available, the common analysis on the situation in specific countries of origin and the guidance notes referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303;

(b) have regard to whether the change of circumstances is of such a significant and non-temporary nature that the refugee’s fear of being persecuted can no longer be regarded as well-founded.

Article 12

Exclusion

A third-country national or a stateless person shall be excluded from being a refugee where that third-country national or stateless person:

(a) falls within the scope of Article 1(D) of the Geneva Convention, relating to protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; when such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of that third-country national or stateless person being definitely settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, that third-country national or stateless person shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Regulation;

(b) is recognised by the competent authorities of the country in which third-country national or stateless person has taken up residence as having the rights and obligations which are attached to the possession of the nationality of that country, or equivalent rights and obligations.

A third-country national or a stateless person shall be excluded from being a refugee where there are serious reasons for considering that that third-country national or stateless person:

(a) has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes;

(b) has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to that third-country national or stateless person’s admission as a refugee, which means the time of granting refugee status; particularly cruel actions, even if committed with an allegedly political objective, may be classified as serious non-political crimes;