A common policy on asylum, including a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as supplemented by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 (the ‘Geneva Convention’), is a constituent part of the Union’s objective of establishing progressively an area of freedom, security and justice open to those who, forced by circumstances, legitimately seek protection in the Union. Such a policy should be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, among the Member States. The Geneva Convention is the cornerstone of the international legal regime for the protection of refugees.