Press Release: Temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons

On 24.5.00, to cope with the movements of displaced persons spreading through Europe in the 1990s, the European Commission proposed to the Council, as part of its asylum policy, a Directive introducing minimum standards for granting temporary protection. Its aim is to help Member States to deal in a uniform, balanced and effective way, based on solidarity, with a mass influx of displaced persons, while at the same time ensuring that the asylum system does not collapse and preserving intact the operation of the Geneva Convention.