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With the Pact on Migration and Asylum now applicable across Europe, the EUAA has published a Practical Guide outlining the grounds on which EU countries must now apply the new accelerated examination procedure to asylum claims. In parallel, the Agency has also published an updated Practical Guide on Qualification which helps Member States decide who qualifies for refugee status and subsidiary protection status under the new rules.

The European Union Agency for Asylum has just published a Practical Guide on a key element of the Asylum Procedure Regulation, the mandatory accelerated examination procedure, which became applicable on 12 June 2026. It will support Member States in quickly identifying people that may not need international protection in the EU, and whose claims must now be assessed within 3 months. Importantly, while the timeframe to appeal a decision made in the accelerated procedure is shorter, all basic principles, safeguards and guarantees apply, and applicants may challenge the decision of the asylum procedure in line with their right to judicial remedy.

The new practical guide is mainly aimed at asylum case officers, interviewers and decision-makers in Member States and outlines the 10 different grounds on which national authorities should apply the accelerated examination of claims, and the underlying considerations that apply. The grounds for acceleration can include, for example, that:

• The claim is clearly unconvincing or that an applicant has intentionally provided false information or disposed of their identity documents. In these circumstances, national authorities must have objective indications that either is the case; including, for example, of the applicant having destroyed an identity document to prevent Member States from establishing their nationality.
• Applicants from a Safe Country of Origin or from a country for which the EU average recognition rate stood at or below 20% may have the examination of their claims accelerated. In 2025, over one quarter of asylum applications (26 %) lodged in EU+ countries were from nationals on the EU-level list of Safe Countries of Origin, and around half by nationals from countries under the 20% threshold.
• Unlawful entry – without lodging an application as soon as possible – or residing lawfully in the EU and then applying to extend a legal stay or, vice versa to delay, frustrate or prevent a removal may all be grounds for accelerating the examination of claims. Finally, applicants raising issues not relevant to international protection, for example, socio-economic reasons may see the handling of their application accelerated.

Despite swifter timelines under the new European rules, accelerated examination of a claim does not per se mean that it is unfounded.  To support case officers in their assessments of who qualifies for international protection, the EUAA has published an updated Practical Guide on Qualification for International Protection. Aimed at case officers, interviewers and decision-makers, the guide updates the previous edition (2018) and supports EU+ countries in determining who qualifies for refugee status or subsidiary protection status.

The practical guide includes ‘decision trees’ that guide case officers when examining whether an applicant qualifies for international protection. This should be read together with the country-specific common analysis and guidance the Agency makes available on a series of countries of origin. A dedicated poster and checklist for ascertaining who qualifies for international protection will be made available soon.