7. EU Citizens
• In order to implement freedom of movement within the European Union, residence permits will be abolished for EU citizens. In the future, EU citizens will merely be required to register with the registration authorities, in the same manner as Germans. EU citizens are to receive a certificate confirming their right of residence (EU Act on the General Freedom of Movement for EU Citizens, Section 5).
8. European Harmonization
• The EU directives on the granting of temporary protection and the recognition of decisions by other member states to return persons to their country of origin and the directive on the supplementation of the provisions pursuant to Article 26 of the Schengen Implementation Agreement are to be implemented.
9. Asylum Procedure
• The status under the Residence Act of those holding so-called “minor asylum” will be brought into line with the status of persons entitled to asylum (Residence Act, Section 25). Both groups will initially receive a limited residence title which can become permanent after three years if the appurtenant conditions continue to be met. Holders of so-called "minor asylum" are to have unimpeded access to the labor market – such as was previously granted only to persons entitled to asylum.
• Prior to the issuing of a settlement permit to persons entitled to asylum and to holders of so-called "minor asylum," an assessment is to be made as to whether the situation in the country of origin has changed (Residence Act, Section 26 (3)).
• Individual decision-makers will no longer have the option of departing from their obligation to follow instructions, and the Office of the Federal Commissioner for Asylum Matters is to be abolished. This will speed up proceedings and lead to the standardization of the decision-making process.
• Asylum seekers who apply for asylum at border authorities or foreigners’ authorities but who subsequently go underground without filing a formal application for asylum, thereby delaying the beginning of their asylum proceedings, will be referred in future to the follow-up application procedure (Asylum Procedure Act, Section 23 (2)).
• In the future, so-called "minor asylum" is to be ruled out as standard procedure when foreigners leave their country of origin in the absence of any persecution and subsequently suffer persecution solely on the basis of (subjective) post-flight conditions that they themselves create (Asylum Procedure Act, Section 28 (2)).
• Foreigners who enter the country illegally without applying for asylum and who, upon the establishment of their illegal entry, cannot be placed in custody pending deportation and deported or expelled directly from custody are to be distributed among the respective federal states [Länder] prior to the decision on the suspension of deportation or the issuance of a residence title (Residence Act, Section 15a).
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