AIDA Temporary Protection Compilation on 2023

The AIDA Temporary Protection Compilation on 2023 is a compilation of the annexes on temporary protection (TP) that were attached to the 2023 updates of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) country reports for 19 EU member states (MS) and three non-EU countries. It includes information on and analysis of the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) and similar national temporary protection regimes in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine which began on 24 February 2022 and the ensuing forced displacement, the Council of the EU activated the 2001 TPD for the first time on 4 March 2024, thus establishing a TP regime for people fleeing Ukraine. Two years into the implementation of the TPD, in a highly challenging context, many of the positive aspects of the reponse remain in place: the approach has largely continued to prioritise access to protection; in most cases, entitlement to a protection status is still automatic and immediate; despite waining leadership by the European Commission, EU institutions and agencies have continued to offer support and to encourage harmonised practices across the EU via operational guidelines, funding and on-the-ground assistance; and EU MS have maintained practices that support access to a wide spectrum of substantive rights for most of the displaced people. As of autumn 2024, over 4.1 million people continued to benefit from TP status in the EU.

Nonetheless, some challenges and implementation gaps persist and others have emerged with the prolongation of TP. First, even after two years of implementation, there are still varying interpretations and thus divergent policies and practices on certain aspects of the TPD and the Council Implementing Decision. Second, practical – and increasingly political – difficulties derived inter alia from an uneven distribution of TPD beneficiaries have persisted, entailing very different capacity and resources to be deployed by states. Third, after initially using the TP regime, some EU MS have restricted access to protection and the scope of rights for non-Ukrainian nationals. Finally,  there has been a general trend to reduce financial allowances for TPD beneficiaries. In some cases, but not across all states, a lack of access to adequate housing, education, and employment have remained or even increased. In general, some of the above-mentioned challenges, particularly the last one, reflect the lack of a long-term inclusion perspective. While such an approach based on longer-term integration would assist the displaced population, it remains highly sensitive for the government of Ukraine and other stakeholders. Nonetheless, as the displacement continues, access to rights needs to be ensured in order to meet the longer-term needs of TPD beneficiaries.

In addition, mapping implementation remains crucial to ensure that states’ approaches incorporate respect for fundamental rights and contribute to the longer-term inclusion in European societies of current TPD beneficiaries. Monitoring also supports the identification of good practices and lessons which could be applied to strengthening asylum systems as a whole.

The compilation report is available here and AIDA country reports and their TP annexes as well as other comparative reports can be found on the AIDA website.