The purpose of the border procedure for asylum and return should be to quickly assess in principle at the external borders whether applications are unfounded or inadmissible and to swiftly return those with no right to stay, in a manner that fully respects the principle of non-refoulement, while ensuring that those with well-founded claims are channelled into the regular procedure and provided quick access to international protection. Member States should therefore be able to require applicants for international protection to reside at or in proximity of the external border or in a transit zone as a general rule, or in other designated locations within their territory, in order to assess the admissibility of applications. In well-defined circumstances, Member States should be able to provide for the examination of the merits of an application and, in the event of rejection of the application, for the return of the third-country nationals and stateless persons concerned. In order to carry out the asylum border procedure, and the return border procedure established by Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2024/1349 (¹³), Member States should take the measures necessary to establish an adequate capacity, in terms of reception and human resources, particularly qualified and well-trained staff, required to examine at any given moment an identified number of applications and to enforce return decisions.

13. Regulation (EU) 2024/1349 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a return border procedure, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1148 (OJ L, 2024/1349, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1349/oj). ↩︎