Member States have the possibility to extend the examination of asylum applications in case of a large number of arrivals, a representative of the Commission said on Tuesday in a written response on the occasion of the announcement of a relevant decision by the Cypriot side at the weekend.
Responding to clarifying questions on Tuesday as part of the midday briefing of the editors, the responsible representative of the Commission, Anita Hipper, explained that this possibility is foreseen for a period of up to nine months in the framework of the directive on asylum procedures, adding also that "it should there should be a review of the country of origin".
In particular, in a written response to a question about the developments of the weekend, a representative of the Commission states that the European Commission "is fully aware of the situation concerning the recent high number of irregular arrivals from Lebanon to Cyprus".
"The Commission is in close contact with Cyprus, at the highest political and technical level," he noted, adding that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a new telephone conversation with President Christodoulidis on Sunday, April 14.
"We understand that the intention is to suspend the consideration of applications for a short period of time. According to EU law, Member States have the possibility to extend the examination of applications in case of large arrivals," he added.
Responding on Tuesday, during the editors' briefing in Brussels, to clarifying questions about the legal basis of the decision under EU law, Ms. Hipper replied that the suspension of the examination of applications "is possible under the regulations on asylum procedures, and indeed this extension can last up to nine months. But of course there should also be a reassessment of the country of origin."
Source: KYPE