The EU is considering whether to extend again the temporary residence and employment rights granted to Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn homeland, potentially extending the program into a sixth year, Euractiv reports, writes UNN.
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The Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), launched in March 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion, has given millions of Ukrainians access to Europe without overwhelming the asylum system. Initially conceived as a short-term emergency measure, it has been extended repeatedly.
European diplomats and officials are expected to meet next week at a technical meeting to consider its further extension – and if so, under what conditions, including the exact personal and geographical scope.
Last year, the bloc's countries adopted a recommendation on how to gradually phase out the program with a "coordinated transition" to a more stable legal status for Ukrainians, with residence permits tied to work, study or long-term stay, and assistance with voluntary return once conditions allow.
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Approximately 4.35 million displaced Ukrainians are currently benefiting from temporary protection across the EU, with just over a quarter of them in Germany alone, 22.3% in Poland, and just under one in ten in the Czech Republic, according to official data.
"However, progress in transitioning to a more stable status for refugees has been slow and uneven, which many EU countries are beginning to realize," the publication states.
According to the document under discussion, circulated ahead of next week's talks, "at this stage, the number of transitions to other statuses remains very low," and "options for other legal statuses for beneficiaries remain uneven across the EU."
While some countries have begun to build pathways out of temporary protection, others are lagging behind. "While several member states have begun to develop mechanisms for transitioning out of temporary protection, many others have yet to establish clear procedures or guidelines for residence after temporary protection," the document notes.
This gap is now being exacerbated by a broader political question about whether protection should be extended and what any potential extension might actually look like, the publication writes.
One option gaining traction in some European capitals is to scale back the program, turning it into a more limited "residual status" – effectively a social welfare system designed for the most vulnerable or for those who cannot yet claim another legal status.
But such an approach, it is noted, "raises complex legal and political questions."
The document "raises the question of whether this issue should be addressed at the EU level by extending the TPD, or whether national authorities should be allowed to distinguish between those who can claim legal residence and those in vulnerable situations who cannot," the publication writes.
The European Commission's special envoy for Ukrainians residing in the EU, Ylva Johansson, said earlier this month that "five years is enough for temporary protection" and that a new approach is needed, even if the war continues. The Swede and former EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Johansson, was appointed to the position last year to guide member states towards adopting a coordinated approach to the temporary protection system.
"They have made it clear that if there is any extension, it must limit the scope and duration of the action in a different way than simply extending it in its current form," she said.