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(1) The Union, in constituting an area of freedom, security and justice, should ensure the absence of internal border controls for persons and frame a common policy on asylum, immigration and management of the external borders of Member States, based on solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between Member States, which is fair towards third-country nationals and stateless persons and in compliance with international and Union law, including fundamental rights.

(2) In order to reinforce mutual trust between Member States, it is necessary to have a comprehensive approach to asylum and migration management which brings together internal and external components. The effectiveness of such an approach depends on all components being addressed jointly and implemented consistently and in an integrated manner.

(3) This Regulation should contribute to such comprehensive approach by setting out a common framework for the actions of the Union and of the Member States, each within their respective competences, in the field of asylum and relevant migration management policies, by upholding and elaborating on the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including the financial implications of that principle, between the Member States, which governs the policies in the area of asylum and migration in accordance with Article 80 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility should be the premise on the basis of which the Member States collectively share the responsibility to manage migration, in particular in the area governed by the Common European Asylum System.

(4) Member States should take all necessary measures, inter alia, to provide access to international protection and adequate reception conditions to those in need, to promote legal pathways, to enable the effective application of the rules on determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection, to effectively manage the return of third-country nationals who do not or no longer fulfil the conditions for residence in the territory of the Member States, to prevent the irregular migration and unauthorised movements of third-country nationals and stateless persons between Member States, to combat migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, including reducing the vulnerabilities caused by them, and to provide support to other Member States in the form of solidarity contributions, as their contribution to the comprehensive approach.

(5) To strengthen cooperation with third countries on asylum and migration, including readmission and addressing the root causes and drivers of irregular migration and forced displacement, it is necessary to promote and build tailor-made and mutually beneficial partnerships with those countries. Such partnerships should provide a framework for better coordination of the relevant Union policies and tools with third countries, and be based on human rights, rule of law and the respect of the Union’s common values. As regards the external components of the comprehensive approach, nothing in this Regulation affects the pre-existing division of competences between the Member States and the Union, or between the institutions of the Union. Those competences will continue to be exercised with full respect for the procedural rules of the Treaties and in line with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular as regards non-binding instruments of the Union.

(6) The common framework is needed in order to effectively address the increasing phenomenon of mixed arrivals of persons in need of international protection and of those who are not, and in recognition that the responsibility for irregular arrivals of migrants and asylum seekers in the Union should not have to be assumed by individual Member States alone, but by the Union as a whole. The scope of this Regulation should also include admitted persons.

(7) In order to ensure the coherence and effectiveness of the actions and measures taken by the Union and its Member States, acting within their respective competences, there is a need for integrated policymaking and a comprehensive approach in the field of asylum and migration management, including both its internal and external components. The Union and Member States should ensure, each within their respective competences, and in compliance with the applicable Union law and international obligations, the coherence and implementation of asylum and migration management policies.

(8) In order to ensure that their asylum, reception and migration systems are well prepared and that each part of those systems has sufficient capacity, Member States should have the necessary human, material and financial resources and infrastructure to effectively implement asylum and migration management policies, and allocate the necessary staff to their competent authorities for the implementation of this Regulation. The Member States should also ensure appropriate coordination between the relevant national authorities as well as with the national authorities of the other Member States.

(9) Taking a strategic approach, Member States should have national strategies to ensure their capacity to effectively implement their asylum and migration management systems, in full compliance with their obligations under Union and international law. Those strategies should include preventive measures to reduce the risk of migratory pressure as well as information on contingency planning, including as provided for under Directive (EU) 2024/1346 of the European Parliament and of the Council , and relevant information as regards the principles of integrated policymaking and of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility under this Regulation and legal obligations stemming therefrom at national level. The Commission and relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies, and in particular the European Union Agency for Asylum (the ‘Asylum Agency’), should be able to support the Member States when establishing their national strategies. The consultation of local and regional authorities by Member States, in accordance with national law and as appropriate, could also improve and strengthen national strategies. To ensure that the national strategies are comparable on specific core elements, a common template should be established by the Commission.

(10) In order to ensure that an effective monitoring system is in place to ensure the application of the Union asylum acquis, the results of the monitoring undertaken by the Asylum Agency and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, and other relevant bodies, offices, agencies or organisations, relevant parts of the evaluation carried out in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) 2022/922 as well as those carried out in line with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 of the European Parliament and of the Council should also be taken into account in Member States’ national strategies. Member States could also consider the results of other relevant monitoring mechanisms.

(11) The Commission should adopt a long-term European Asylum and Migration Management Strategy (the ‘Strategy’) setting out the strategic approach to ensure a consistent implementation of national strategies at Union level, in accordance with the principles set out in this Regulation and in Union primary law and applicable international law.

(12) Considering the importance of ensuring that the Union is prepared and able to adjust to the developing and evolving realities of asylum and migration management, the Commission should annually adopt a European Annual Asylum and Migration Report (the ‘Report’). The Report should assess the asylum, reception and migratory situation over the previous 12-month period along all migratory routes to and in all Member States, serve as an early warning and awareness tool for the Union in the area of migration and asylum, and provide a strategic situational picture and projections for the coming year. The Report should set out, inter alia, the preparedness of the Union and the Member States to respond and adapt to the evolution of the migratory situation and the results of monitoring by the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies. The data and information as well as the assessments contained in the report should be taken into account in the decision-making procedures relating to the solidarity mechanism set out in Part IV of this Regulation.

(13) The Report should be prepared in consultation with Member States and relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies. For the purposes of the Report, the Commission should use existing reporting mechanisms, primarily the Integrated Situational Awareness and Analysis, provided that the Integrated Political Crisis Response is activated, and the EU mechanism for preparedness and management of crises related to migration set out in Commission Recommendation (EU) 2020/1366 . It is of the utmost importance for ensuring that the Union is prepared and able to adjust to the developing and evolving realities of asylum and migration management, and hence for the successful functioning of the annual asylum and migration cycle and the solidarity mechanism, that the Member States, the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service and the relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies contribute to such existing reporting mechanisms and ensure the adequate and timely exchange of information and data. Information from other relevant sources, including the European Migration Network, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration, should also be taken into consideration. The Commission should request additional information from Member States only when that information is not available through those reporting mechanisms and relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies, in order to avoid a duplication of efforts.