The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is a database managed by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) containing detailed information on asylum systems in 23 European countries. In the updates on the year 2022, the reports also included information on temporary protection. This document collates the information and analysis on the implementation of the TPD and similar national temporary protection regimes in 2022 in 19 EU member states (AT, BE, BG, CY, DE, ES, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, and SI) and 3 non-EU countries (Serbia, Switzerland, United Kingdom).
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine which began on 24 February 2022 and the ensuing forced displacement led to a prompt reaction from the European Union: on 4 March 2022 with Implementing Decision 2022/382 the Council activated the 2001 Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for the first time, establishing a temporary protection regime for those fleeing Ukraine. In activating the TPD, the EU’s response to this displacement crisis facilitated access to international protection for those displaced by the fighting and alleviated the responsibilities of Member States.
Although the Directive was translated into Member States’ national legal frameworks in the months and years following its adoption in 2001, it had not been put to the test until March 2022. Since then, a key priority has been monitoring the operationalisation of the TPD. Indeed, mapping implementation is crucial to ensure that the states’ approach incorporates respect for fundamental rights and contributes to the longer-term inclusion in European societies of current TP holders. Monitoring also supports the identification of good practices and lessons learned which could be applied to strengthen asylum systems as a whole.
To this end, the AIDA reports on international protection systems in Europe in 2022, published in spring 2023, include a detailed annex on the respective country’s implementation of the TPD or similar national protection scheme, covering both policy and legal developments. Each annex describes the temporary protection procedure, including its scope, access to the procedure, and guarantees for vulnerable persons. It then covers the content of temporary protection, including rights to residence and status, family reunification, freedom of movement, housing, education, labour market access, social welfare, and healthcare.
For further information:
- Find comparative information in the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) managed by ECRE