The European Commission is set to publish detailed Operational Guidelines on the new rules for granting temporary protection to Ukrainians in the EU "in the coming weeks," European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said during a briefing on Thursday, UNN reports.
Details
Commenting that "there are reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine that Ukrainian women arriving in some EU countries are now being asked to prove that they are not required to serve in the army, and that the rules differ depending on the country," the spokesperson pointed out that the EU Council decision to extend the temporary protection directive entered into force at the beginning of this month, in August 2026.
He pointed out that this means that the practical assessment of individual cases now falls within the competence of the Member States. "So it is the authorities of the national Member States that must apply the new rules and carry out the factual checks provided for by those rules. Therefore, the Council decision—and this is also important to note for your question—does not distinguish between men and women in the application. You will remember that this concerns military service or former military service, so there is no difference between men and women. As a matter of fact, we shared documents on the guidelines with the Member States, so this should indeed facilitate the application of the new law," Lammert said.
I was referring to the questions-and-answers document (Q&A) that was provided to the Member States, and in addition to it, in the coming weeks we will also publish new and updated Operational Guidelines. We have a (document of) questions and answers, and we are working on more detailed guidelines in order to continue supporting the Member States in interpreting these rules