Ms Maria Hennessy:

I just want to add a point around the protection-sensitive implementation of the pact. There are provisions where, for example, if a person has special procedural needs that cannot be met during the border procedure he or she is then exempted. It is really important to look into the details as although most of these are regulations with direct effect, they do contain within them some flexibility.

For example, there is a move towards legal counselling now in the asylum procedures regulation at first instance, which looks more like legal information than legal assistance or representation. However, it does enable member states to maintain national law standards where they would have legal assistance at first instance. That protection-sensitive implementation is really important. One practical point in terms of the timeframe is that the qualification regulation would only be adopted in two years from when the pact is agreed. It would not be next year. The only one that would be implemented faster is the resettlement union framework when it is officially published.