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

The expansion of the concept of “safe third country” in the reform of the Common European Asylum System Η έννοια της «ασφαλούς τρίτης χώρας» στην αναθεώρηση του Κοινού Ευρωπαϊκού Καθεστώτος Ασύλου Minos Mouzourakis Senior Asylum Information Database (AIDA) Coordinator, European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) * Ι. Introduction The concept of “safe third country”, a controversial feature of European coun- tries’ asylum systems far before the development of a European Union (EU) com- mon policy on asylum, 1 has been codified in EU law through the Asylum Procedures Directive 2 and its recast. 3 * This article draws on an ECRE Policy Note entitled ‘Debunking the safe third countrymyth’, November 2017, available at: https://www.ecre.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ Policy-Note-08.pdf. 1. Costello C. , The Asylum Procedures Directive and the Proliferation of Safe Country Prac- tices: Deterrence, Deflection and the Dismantling of International Protection?, European Journal on Migration and Law, 2005, 35; Byrne R. / Shacknove A. , The Safe Country No- tion in European Asylum Law, Harvard Human Rights Journal, 1996, 185. 2. Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (hereafter “Asylum Procedures Directive”) [2005] OJ L326/13. 3. Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast) (hereafter “recast Asylum Procedures Directive”) [2013] OJ L180/60.