Greece has made solid early progress in implementing the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, according to the European Commission’s first assessment of the bloc’s new responsibility rules. However, Brussels cautions it is too soon to judge the system’s full effectiveness, as the new framework has only been in force since June 12.
The Commission highlighted Greece’s adoption of national legislation on June 9, the issuance of operational guidelines, staff training, and preparations at first reception centers. Greek authorities have designated facilities for the new border procedures, conducted pilot exercises, and established a joint coordination mechanism involving national authorities, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), and Frontex, the EU’s border agency.
The report also notes expanded reception capacity in Crete and arrangements to transfer asylum seekers to the mainland to meet the Pact’s new deadlines. Greece has appointed its National Transparency Authority to independently monitor fundamental rights during border screening.
Administrative capacity has also been strengthened. Greece’s Dublin unit – based in Greece and named after the Dublin Regulation, an EU law determining which member state is responsible for examining an asylum application – which handles asylum transfer requests between EU member states, now has 69 staff, with recruitment of another 116 underway, while new transfer procedures and weekly coordination meetings aim to improve case management.
