COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: March 2026
For general guidance on the country guidance approach to this section, see ‘EUAA, Article 15(c) QD/QR: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict in Country Guidance: explained, February 2026’.
In armed conflicts, the targeting of civilians may have nexus to one of the reasons for persecution and therefore, refugee status may be granted. Such targeted violence would not be considered ‘indiscriminate’.
The assessment for the applicability of Article 15(c) QD/QR is primarily based on the ‘Security 2025’ COI report, with reference period 1 January 2024 - 31 August 2025. Some indicators, mainly referring to data, are added during the finalisation of the document until 31 December 2025 based on the COI Update 2026.
This guidance should be considered valid as long as current events and developments fall within the trends and patterns of violence observed within the reference period of the mentioned COI report. New events and developments that cause substantial changes, new trends or geographical shifts in the violence, may lead to a different assessment. The security situation in a given territory should always be assessed in light of the most up-to-date COI available.
All the below elements have to be fulfilled in order to grant subsidiary protection under Article 15(c) QD/QR.
Figure 2. Article 15(c) QD/QR: elements of the assessment
The contents of this section include: