ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

162 The ‘hotspot’ approach: key findings from Greece The “hotspots” are triggered hence as reception and registration centers, where all the stages of administrative procedures concerning newcomers – identifica- tion, reception, asylum procedure or return –would take place swiftly within their scope 43 . However, it should be underlined that Member States have not yet made available the necessary experts to date 44 . The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) portrays this working method as a ‘hybrid EU-Member States tool’ involving close operational cooperation be- tween Member State authorities and EU agencies. 45 This method consists of ‘inter- agency collaboration, where deployed national experts under the coordination of a specific agency provide operational support to national administrations. 46 In ad- dition, according to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), the hotspots func- tion with ‘an unprecedented level of operational EU support. 47 Finally, the function of the hotspots can be set out as a filtering mechanism aimed at registering, identifying and channeling new arrivals into asylum or return proce- dure. 48 The hotspot approach is considered an effective return mechanism for mi- grants not requiring international protection, with the possibility of rapid return from the hotspots themselves due to the use of initial filtering processes and, in the Greek context, fast-track border procedures 49 . This filtering mechanism rep- resents the main risk inherent to the hotspot approach, by screening distinguish likely refugees and likely migrants at the point of arrival. According to the Asylum 43. The implementation of the hotspots in Italy and Greece, a study, AIDA REPORT, last updated: 26/09/17 http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/greece. 44. European Commission, Fourth Report on the Progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, COM(2016) 792, 8 December 2016, available at: https:// ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european- agenda-migration/proposal-implementationpackage/docs/communication_20160304_ progress_report_on_the_implementation_of_the_hotspots_in_greece_en.pdf. 45. ECRE, “The implementation of the hotspots in Italy and Greece”, study, https://www. ecre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/HOTSPOTS-Report-5.12.2016..pdf. 46. Tsourdi L., Hotspots and EU Agencies: Towards an integrated European administration?, EU Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy blog, 26 January 2017, available at: http:// eumigrationlawblog.eu/hotspots-and-eu/. 47. Hotspot State of Play, 11 September 2017, available at https://ec.europa.eu/ homeaffairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda- migration/press-material/docs/state_of_play_-_hotspots_en.pdf. 48. Amnesty International, Hotspot Italy: How EU’s flagship approach leads to violations of refugee and migrant rights, 3 November 2016, 11-12. 49. Danish Refugee Council, Fundamental rights and the EU hotspot approach, October 2017, 6-7.