News

Between 2 - 4 June the EUAA, together with relevant National Contact Points, held a first crisis management-related Tabletop Exercise using the  EUAA Asylum Reserve Pool (ARP). The Asylum Reserve Pool is a mechanism introduced under the strengthened EUAA Regulation and helps foster the Union’s rapid response capacity to support any Member State whose asylum and / or reception systems are under disproportionate pressure.

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just successfully concluded its first crisis management related exercise, in the form of a Tabletop Exercise (TTX), involving the Agency’s National Contact Points responsible for organising the rapid deployment of asylum and reception experts made available in the EUAA Asylum Reserve Pool (ARP). The pool is one of the novelties under the Agency’s strengthened mandate.

The Asylum Reserve Pool numbers of around 500 experts, and acts as a buffer to ensure the EU’s asylum and reception systems remain resilient in times of increased pressure. Mandatory and binding on Member States1, it is composed of a variety of technical profiles ensuring that the Agency can respond effectively and quickly to the needs identified in a Member State which considers that its asylum or reception systems have come under disproportionate migratory pressure. The Asylum Reserve Pool is a tangible commitment of operational solidarity among EU countries.

This week’s tabletop exercise involved representatives of several Member States, together with EUAA staff members responsible for various aspects of the Agency’s operational support to EU countries, and sought to:

• Assess the readiness and responsiveness of the Asylum Reserve Pool to provide operational support in situations of crisis and / or disproportionate pressure;

• Reinforce intra-agency coordination among different teams across the EUAA to work seamlessly together in emergency situations, particularly upon the activation of the Asylum Reserve Pool;

• Foster effective and efficient collaboration between National Contact Points and EUAA personnel, to ensure the rapid deployment of asylum or reception experts within the short deadlines set out in the EUAA Regulation (max. 7 working days, if needed);

• Collect feedback and identify the lessons learned to improve and optimise administrative procedures, to ensure that the EU can respond in a potential moment of crisis.

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  In accordance with Protocol N° 22 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Kingdom of Denmark is not bound by, or subject to, the EUAA Regulation.