EU governments cannot automatically put asylum applications on hold because applicants already have temporary protection, the Court of Justice ruled on Thursday. The judgment limits the use of the emergency scheme for people fleeing Ukraine as grounds to postpone examining their individual claims.
The case concerned a Chinese Uyghur man who arrived in the Netherlands in March 2022 with his Ukrainian wife and their child. Dutch authorities granted him temporary protection but suspended consideration of his asylum application until that protection expired.
He challenged the delay, prompting the Netherlands Council of State to seek guidance from the EU court. Judges said that asylum and temporary protection procedures “may proceed simultaneously and independently”. Rejecting an asylum application does not, by itself, end temporary protection.
Governments must still examine asylum claims
Temporary protection and asylum serve different purposes. The EU’s temporary protection scheme gives eligible people fleeing Ukraine an immediate right to stay, work and access essential services without going through an individual asylum assessment. Governments agreed in July to extend it until March 2028.
An asylum application asks a different question: whether a person’s individual circumstances qualify them for refugee status or another form of international protection. Someone who already has temporary protection can also seek that assessment.
The two procedures may proceed simultaneously and independently. — The Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court ruled that authorities cannot automatically leave such applications pending until temporary protection ends. Normal processing deadlines still apply, although governments can extend them for justified reasons, including administrative difficulties caused by large numbers of applications.
The judgment does not mean that every applicant must be granted asylum. It means that having temporary protection is not, on its own, a reason to postpone deciding their claim. Rejection of the asylum application does not by itself remove their temporary protection.
