| 22 June 2010 EU Member States have widely diverging interpretations of the so called Qualification Directive, which sets minimum standards for identification of people in need of international protection. In a follow-up report of the Directive, the European Commission identifies deficiencies in certain provisions as well as several issues of incomplete and/or incorrect transposition by EU Member States. Those deficiencies have led to lower protection standards than those established by the Directive, as well as disparities among Member States both in the granting of protection and in the form of the protection granted. "The vagueness and the ambiguity of the standards set by the Directive have led to substantial discrepancies among national rules. The Commission evaluated and proposed amendments to the Directive in October 2009, in order to reduce the risk for further diverging interpretations among Member States. I now call on the European Parliament and the Council to adopt those amendments ", said European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström. She added: "The Commission will continue to examine and pursue all cases where problems of transposition and/or implementation have been identified in order to ensure correct application of the common standards set by the Directive." The Qualification Directive (2004/83/EC) was designed to define common criteria for the identification of persons in need of international protection and to ensure that at least a minimum level of benefits is available for these persons in all Member States. The Commission report on its implementation highlights that the level of protection granted differs among Member States, affecting asylum flows. Several issues of incomplete and/or incorrect transposition of the Directive have also been identified. Vagueness and ambiguity of several concepts in the Directive leaves room for widely divergent interpretations by Member States; an important share of decisions taken on individual cases are overturned on appeal, as they are based on criteria which are insufficiently clear and precise. On the basis of a thorough evaluation of the implementation of the Directive, the Commission adopted on 21 October 2009 a proposal to recast the Qualification Directive. The proposed amendments are to remedy to the identified deficiencies, which are due to the imprecision of the standards themselves. stateless status report.pdf
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