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(3) The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) establishes a system for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection, common standards for asylum procedures, reception conditions and procedures and rights of beneficiaries of international protection. Notwithstanding the progress that has been made in the development of the CEAS, there are still notable differences between the Member States with regard to procedures used, reception conditions provided to applicants, recognition rates and type of protection granted to beneficiaries of international protection. Those differences are important drivers of secondary movement and undermine the objective of ensuring that all applicants are equally treated wherever they apply for international protection in the Union.

(4) In its communication of 6 April 2016‘Towards a Reform of the Common European Asylum System and Enhancing Legal Avenues to Europe’, the Commission underlined the need for strengthening and harmonising further the CEAS. It also set out priority areas where the CEAS should be structurally improved, namely the establishment of a sustainable and fair system for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection, the reinforcement of the Eurodac system, the achievement of greater convergence in the Union asylum system, the prevention of secondary movements within the Union and an enhanced mandate for the European Union Agency for Asylum established by Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘Asylum Agency’). That communication replies to calls by the European Council on 18-19 February 2016 and on 17-18 March 2016 to make progress in reforming the Union’s existing framework so as to ensure a humane, fair and efficient asylum policy. That communication also proposes a way forward in line with the holistic approach to migration set out by the European Parliament in its resolution of 12 April 2016 on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration.

(5) Reception conditions continue to vary considerably between Member States in particular with regard to the reception standards provided to applicants. More harmonised reception standards set out at an adequate level across all Member States will contribute to more equal treatment and the fairer distribution of applicants across the Union.

(6) The resources of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1147 of the European Parliament and of the Council , and of the Asylum Agency should be mobilised in order to provide adequate support to Member States in implementing the reception standards set out in this Directive, including to Member States which are faced with specific and disproportionate pressures on their asylum systems, due in particular to their geographical or demographic situation.

(7) In order to ensure the equal treatment of applicants throughout the Union, this Directive should apply during all stages and types of procedures for international protection, in all locations and facilities housing applicants and for as long as they are allowed to remain on the territory of the Member States as applicants. It is necessary to clarify that material reception conditions should be available to applicants from the moment they express their wish to apply for international protection to officials of the competent authorities in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

(8) A daily expenses allowance should be provided to applicants in all cases as part of the material reception conditions in order for applicants to enjoy a minimum degree of autonomy in their daily life. It should be possible to provide the daily expenses allowance as a monetary amount, in vouchers, in kind, such as in products, or as a combination thereof provided that such an allowance includes a monetary amount.

(9) Where an applicant is present in a Member State other than the one in which he or she is required to be present in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1351 of the European Parliament and of the Council , the applicant should not be entitled to material reception conditions, access to the labour market, language courses or vocational training in accordance with this Directive from the moment the applicant has been notified of a decision to transfer him or her to the Member State responsible. Unless a separate decision has been issued to this effect, the transfer decision should state that the relevant reception conditions have been withdrawn. In all circumstances, Member States should ensure access to health care and a standard of living for applicants which is in accordance with Union law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’), and other international obligations.

(10) With respect to the treatment of persons falling within the scope of this Directive, Member States are bound by obligations under instruments of international law to which they are party.

(11) Standard conditions for the reception of applicants sufficient to ensure them an adequate standard of living and comparable living conditions in all Member States should be laid down. The harmonisation of reception conditions for applicants should help to limit the secondary movements of applicants influenced by the variety of conditions for their reception.

(12) In order to ensure that applicants are aware of their rights and obligations, Member States should provide them in writing, or, where necessary, orally, or, where appropriate, in a visual form, with information relating to the reception conditions set out in this Directive. Such information should be provided as soon as possible, and in good time, and should include the reception conditions to which applicants, including applicants with special reception needs, are entitled, employment rights and obligations, the circumstances under which the granting of material reception conditions may be restricted to a geographical area or limited to a specific place and the consequences of not complying with such restrictions or limitations and of absconding, as well as the situations in which it is possible to order detention, possibilities for appeal and review and possibilities for the provision of legal assistance and representation. Member States should, in particular, inform applicants of the reception conditions to which they are not entitled in a Member State other than the one in which they are required to be present. A Member State should no longer be obliged to provide that information where it is no longer necessary to effectively enable the applicant to benefit from the rights, and comply with the obligations, provided for in this Directive, or where the applicant is not available to the competent authorities or has absconded from the territory of that Member State. The Asylum Agency should develop a template with standard information relating to reception conditions to be provided by Member States to applicants as soon as possible and no later than three days from the making of the application or within the timeframe for its registration.

(27) An acceptable maximum timeframe for the judicial review of detention should be determined in light of the circumstances of each case, taking into account the complexity of the procedure, as well as the diligence shown by the competent authorities, any delay caused by the detained person and any other factors causing delay for which the Member State cannot be held responsible.

(28) Where an applicant has been allowed to reside only in a specific place but has not complied with that obligation, there still needs to be a risk that the applicant could abscond in order for the applicant to be detained. In all circumstances, special care should be taken to ensure that the length of the detention is proportionate and that it ends as soon as the obligation put on the applicant has been fulfilled or there are no longer reasons for believing that the applicant will not fulfil that obligation. The applicant should also have been made aware of the obligation in question and of the consequences of non-compliance.

(29) With regard to administrative procedures relating to the grounds for detention, the notion of ‘due diligence’ at least requires that Member States take concrete and meaningful steps to ensure that the time needed to verify the grounds for detention is as short as possible, and that there is a real prospect that such verification can be carried out successfully in the shortest possible time. Detention should not exceed the time reasonably needed to complete the relevant administrative procedures.

(30) The grounds for detention set out in this Directive are without prejudice to other grounds for detention, including detention grounds within the framework of criminal proceedings, which are applicable under national law and unrelated to the third-country national’s or stateless person’s application for international protection.

(31) Applicants who are in detention should be treated with full respect for human dignity and their reception should be specifically designed to meet their needs in that situation. In particular, Member States should ensure that Article 24 of the Charter and Article 37 of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are applied.

(32) There may be cases where it is not possible in practice to immediately ensure certain reception guarantees in detention, for example due to the geographical location or the specific structure of the detention facility. Any derogation from those guarantees should be temporary and should only be applied under the circumstances set out in this Directive. Derogations should only be applied in exceptional circumstances and should be duly justified, taking into consideration the circumstances of each case, including the level of severity of the derogation applied, its duration and its impact on the applicant concerned.