Regulation (EU) 2024/1350 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1147

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation:

(a) establishes a Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework (the ‘Union Framework’) for the admission of third-country nationals or stateless persons to the territory of the Member States with a view to granting them, in accordance with this Regulation: (i) international protection; or (ii) humanitarian status under national law which provides for rights and obligations equivalent to those established in Articles 20 to 26 and 28 to 35 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection; and

(b) lays down rules on the admission, by means of resettlement or humanitarian admission, of third-country nationals or stateless persons to the territory of the Member States for the purpose of implementing this Regulation.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘resettlement’ means the admission to the territory of a Member State, following a referral from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), of a third-country national or a stateless person, from a third country to which that person has been displaced, who: (a) is eligible for admission pursuant to Article 5(1); (b) does not fall under the grounds for refusal set out in Article 6; and (c) is granted international protection in accordance with Union and national law and has access to a durable solution;

(2) ‘international protection’ means international protection as defined in Article 3, point (3), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;

(3) ‘humanitarian admission’ means the admission to the territory of a Member State, following, where requested by a Member State, a referral from the European Union Agency for Asylum (the ‘Asylum Agency’), from the UNHCR, or from another relevant international body, of a third-country national or a stateless person from a third country to which that person has been forcibly displaced and, at least on the basis of an initial evaluation, who: (a) is eligible for admission pursuant to Article 5(2); (b) does not fall under the grounds for refusal set out in Article 6; and (c) is granted international protection in accordance with Article 9(17) of this Regulation or humanitarian status under national law, which provides for rights and obligations equivalent to those established in Article 20 to 26 and 28 to 35 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection;

(4) ‘emergency admission’ means the admission by means of resettlement or humanitarian admission of persons with urgent legal or physical protection needs or with immediate medical needs.

Article 3

Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework

The Union Framework shall:

(a) provide for the legal and safe arrival to the territory of a Member State of third-country nationals or stateless persons who are eligible for admission and who do not fall under the grounds for refusal under this Regulation with a view to granting them international protection in accordance with this Regulation or humanitarian status under national law referred to in Article 2, point (3)(c), and encourage all Member States to scale up their efforts to that end;

(b) contribute to increasing the Union’s contribution to international resettlement and humanitarian admission initiatives with a view to increasing the overall number of available places for resettlement and humanitarian admission;

(c) contribute to strengthening the Union’s partnerships with third countries in regions to which a large number of persons in need of international protection has been displaced.

Article 4

Determination of regions or third countries from which Union resettlement or humanitarian admission is to occur

The determination of the regions or third countries from which Union resettlement or humanitarian admission occurs shall primarily have as a basis:

(a) the UNHCR Projected Global Resettlement Needs;

(b) the scope for improving the protection environment and increasing the protection space in third countries;

(c) the scale and content of commitments to resettlement or humanitarian admission undertaken by third countries with a view to collectively contributing to meeting the UNHCR Global Resettlement Needs.

Article 5

Eligibility for admission

For the purpose of resettlement, the following third-country nationals or stateless persons shall be eligible for admission, provided that they also fall within at least one of the categories referred to in paragraph 3, point (a):

(a) third-country nationals 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, as defined in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, are outside their country of nationality and are unable or, owing to such a fear, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, or stateless persons, who, being outside the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons, are unable or, owing to such a fear, are unwilling to return to that country; or

(b) third-country nationals who are outside the country of nationality or stateless persons who are outside the country of their former habitual residence and in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that they, if returned to their country of origin or, in the case of stateless persons, to their country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, and are unable or, owing to such risk, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country.

Persons whose protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the UN other than the UNHCR has ceased for any reason without their position being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly shall be deemed to meet the eligibility criteria set out in this paragraph.

For the purpose of humanitarian admission, the following third-country nationals or stateless persons shall be eligible for admission, provided that, at least on the basis of an initial evaluation, they also fall within at least one of the categories referred to in paragraph 3:

(a) third-country nationals 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, as defined in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 are outside the country of nationality and are unable or, owing to such a fear, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, or stateless persons who, being outside the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons, are unable or, owing to such a fear, unwilling to return to it; or

(b) third-country nationals who are outside the country of nationality or stateless persons who are outside the country of former habitual residence, and in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that they, if returned to their country of origin or, in the case of stateless persons, to their country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, and are unable or, owing to such risk, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country.

Persons whose protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the UN other than the UNHCR has ceased for any reason without their position being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, shall be deemed to meet the eligibility criteria set out in this paragraph.

To be eligible for admission pursuant to this Article, a third-country national or stateless person shall also fall within at least one of the following categories:

(a) vulnerable persons, comprising: (i) women and girls at risk; (ii) minors, including unaccompanied minors; (iii) survivors of violence or torture, including on the basis of gender or sexual orientation; (iv) persons with legal and/or physical protection needs, including as regards protection from refoulement; (v) persons with medical needs, including where life-saving treatment is unavailable in the country to which they have been forcibly displaced; (vi) persons with disabilities; (vii) persons who lack a foreseeable alternative durable solution, in particular those in a protracted refugee situation;

(b) in the case of humanitarian admission, the family members, as referred to in paragraph 4, of third-country nationals or stateless persons legally residing in a Member State, or of Union citizens.

In order to ensure family unity, the following family members of third-country nationals or stateless persons to be admitted shall also be eligible for admission:

(a) the spouse or unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the law or practice of the Member State concerned treats unmarried couples in a way comparable to that of married couples under its law relating to third-country nationals or stateless persons;

(b) the minor children on the condition that they are unmarried and regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock or adopted or recognised as defined under national law;

(c) the father, mother or another adult responsible for an unmarried minor, whether by law or by the practice of the Member State concerned;

(d) the sibling or siblings;

(e) third-country nationals or stateless persons who are dependent on their child, parent or other family member for assistance as a result of pregnancy, a new-born child, serious mental or physical illness, severe disability or old age, provided that family ties existed in the country of origin, that the child, parent or other family member is able to take care of the dependent person, and that the persons concerned expressed their desire in writing.

When applying this paragraph, Member States shall take due account of the best interests of the child. Where the third-country national or stateless person is a married minor but not accompanied by his or her spouse, the best interests of the minor may be seen to lie with the minor’s original family.

Article 6

Grounds for refusing admission

The following third-country nationals or stateless persons shall be refused admission under this Regulation:

(a) persons who are recognised by the competent authorities of the country in which they have 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;

(b) persons in relation to whom there are reasonable grounds for considering that they have: (i) 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; (ii) committed a serious crime; (iii) been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN as set out in the Preamble and Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter of the United Nations;

(c) persons for whom there are reasonable grounds for considering that they are a danger to the community, public policy, security or public health of the Member State examining the admission file;

(d) persons for whom an alert has been issued in the Schengen Information System or in a national database of a Member State for the purpose of refusing entry;

(e) persons who have been granted international protection by Member States or humanitarian status under national law as referred to in Article 2, point (3)(c);

(f) persons whom a Member State has, during the three years before admission, refused admission pursuant to point (c) or (d) of this subparagraph.

Point (b) of the first subparagraph shall also apply to persons who incite, or who otherwise participate in, the commission of the crimes or acts mentioned therein.

The following third-country nationals or stateless persons may be refused admission:

(a) persons who, during the three years before admission, have not given or have withdrawn consent to be admitted to a particular Member State, as referred to in Article 7, provided that they have been informed of the consequences of such withdrawal in accordance with Article 9(4), point (b);

(b) persons who have committed one or more crimes outside the scope of paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (b), which would be punishable with a maximum sentence of at least one year of imprisonment had they been committed in the Member State examining the admission file, unless the prosecution or the punishment would have been statute-barred or, in the case of a conviction for such a crime, an entry relating to that conviction would have been removed from the national criminal record, according to the law of the Member State examining the admission file;

(c) persons who refuse to participate in a pre-departure orientation programme referred to in Article 9(22);

(d) persons in relation to whom a Member State cannot provide the adequate support needed on the basis of those persons’ vulnerability.

Article 7

Consent

Article 8

Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Plan

The Commission shall inform the European Parliament of its proposed draft Union Plan without delay, and the Council shall keep the European Parliament regularly informed of progress relating to the adoption of the Union Plan.

The Council shall inform the European Parliament and the Commission of the final draft Union Plan without delay. The Council shall transmit the Union Plan to the European Parliament without delay upon its adoption.

The Union Plan shall include:

(a) the total number of persons to be admitted to the territory of the Member States, indicating, respectively, the proportion of persons who are to be subject to resettlement, to humanitarian admission and to emergency admission, the proportion of persons subject to resettlement being not less than approximately 60 % of the total number of persons to be admitted;

(b) details about the participation of the Member States and their contributions to the total number of persons to be admitted and the proportion of the persons who are to be subject to resettlement, to humanitarian admission and to emergency admission in accordance with point (a) of this paragraph, fully respecting the indications made by Member States at the High-Level Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Committee established pursuant to Article 11;

(c) a specification of the regions or third countries from which resettlement or humanitarian admission is to occur pursuant to Article 4.

The Union Plan may, where necessary, include:

(a) a description of the specific group or groups of third-country nationals or stateless persons to whom the Union Plan is to apply;

(b) local coordination, as well as practical cooperation arrangements among Member States, supported by the Asylum Agency in accordance with Article 10, and with third countries, the UNHCR and other relevant partners.

Article 9

Admission procedure

In the case of humanitarian admission, for the purpose of implementing the Union Plan, Member States may request that the Asylum Agency, the UNHCR, or another relevant international body refer third-country nationals or stateless persons to them.

A Member State may give preference to a third-country national or a stateless person who has:

(a) family links with third-country nationals or stateless persons legally residing in a Member State or with Union citizens;

(b) demonstrated social links or other characteristics that can facilitate integration in the Member State conducting an admission procedure, including appropriate language skills or previous residence in that Member State;

(c) particular protection needs or vulnerabilities.

After identifying a third-country national or a stateless person who falls within the scope of the Union Plan and in relation to whom it intends to conduct an admission procedure, a Member State shall register the following information in relation to that person:

(a) the third-country national’s or the stateless person’s name, date of birth, gender and nationality;

(b) the type and number of any identity or travel document of the third-country national or stateless person; and

(c) the date and place of the registration and the authority making the registration.

Additional data necessary for the implementation of paragraphs 6 and 9 may be collected at the time of registration.

Member States shall inform the third-country nationals or stateless persons in relation to whom they conduct an admission procedure of:

(a) the objectives of and the different steps in the admission procedure;

(b) the consequences of withdrawing consent as referred to in Article 7, and of a refusal to participate in any pre-departure orientation programme as referred to in paragraph 22 of this Article.

Member States shall make that assessment in particular on the basis of documentary evidence, including, where applicable, information from the UNHCR on whether the third-country nationals or the stateless persons qualify as refugees, on the basis of a personal interview, or a combination of both.

In the case of resettlement, Member States shall request that the UNHCR conduct a full assessment of whether the third-country nationals or the stateless persons subject to an admission procedure:

(a) fall within the scope of the Union Plan;

(b) fall under one of the categories of vulnerability set out in Article 5(3), point (a) or have family links in accordance with Article 5(4), and the reasons for such an assessment;

(c) qualify as refugees within the meaning of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention.

Member States may request that the criteria set out in paragraph 2, second subparagraph, be taken into account.

In the case of humanitarian admission, Member States may request that the UNHCR assess whether the third-country nationals or stateless persons referred to them by the UNHCR:

(a) qualify as refugees within the meaning of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention;

(b) fall under one of the categories of vulnerability set out in Article 5(3), point (a) or have family links in accordance with Article 5(3), point (b).

Member States may request that the criteria set out in paragraph 2, second subparagraph, be taken into account.

A Member State may discontinue an admission procedure in the following circumstances:

(a) where it has concluded that the total number of third-country nationals or stateless persons admitted exceeds its contribution set out in the Union Plan;

(b) where it has concluded to give preference to the third-country nationals or stateless persons in accordance with paragraph 2;