Temporary Protection Directive

With the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999, the European Union gained authority to legislate in the areas of migration and asylum policy. At the European Council meeting held in Tampere in October 1999, several legislative instruments instituting a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) were proposed. Together with the other instruments, the Temporary Protection Directive was passed in 2001 in the aftermath of the Yugoslav Wars. The directive has been in effect since 7 August 2001, but was not invoked until 2022. ==Details==

The Temporary Protection Directive aims to harmonise European Union policies with respect to displaced people and increase solidarity and collaboration between member states in a refugee crisis. People under temporary protection can obtain a residence permit without the complicated bureaucracy normally associated with seeking asylum. Children must be allowed to access education the same way as EU residents. When invoked, the directive compels all member states (except Denmark, which has an opt-out clause) to accept refugees, issue residence permits, minimise red tape, and take other steps to assist displaced people. ==2022 refugee crisis==

In March 2022, the Council of the European Union invoked the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time in its history, in response to the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The European Commission proposed invoking the directive on 2 March 2022, and EU ministers unanimously agreed to invoke it on 3 March. The Council formally activated the directive on 4 March 2022. The European Commission published guidelines for how member states should implement the directive in light of the crisis, and individual member states have announced specific requirements for how refugees can apply for protected status. The legal blog Lawfare said it was surprising that the Council's decision was unanimous, pointing out that Hungary and Poland had opposed burden-sharing measures during the 2015 refugee crisis. Lawfare said that those countries' support for invoking the TPD in 2022 was probably driven by "popular sympathy for the Ukrainians, and the specter of further Russian westward expansion". ==Other proposals for use or repeal==

The directive's possible use has occasionally been discussed in the years since it was passed. Amid the 2015 European refugee crisis, the UNHCR, some members of the European Parliament, and activists called for the directive to be invoked. There has been discussion of the directive in the context of climate refugees, but it is thought that it would probably not be applicable due to the gradual nature of climate change. Possibility of repeal In 2020, a proposed regulation stated that the Temporary Protection Directive "no longer responds to member states’ current reality" and should be repealed. John Koo, a lecturer in EU law at London South Bank University, has argued that the directive benefits neither EU member states nor refugees themselves, and that its mechanisms contain problems. ==See also==