On 2 February 2023, the Council of State issued its decision 177/2023, 249 on an annulment application lodged by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) against the aforementioned JMD. In its decision, the Council of State formulated preliminary questions to the CJEU regarding the national list which includes Türkiye as a safe third country for asylum applicants originating from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, whose applications are therefore being rejected as inadmissible. In particular, the Council of State submitted preliminary questions regarding the ‘influence on the legality of the national list of the fact that, for a long period (over 20 months), Türkiye has refused the readmission of applicants for international protection, while at the same time it is not clear whether the possibility of a change in Türkiye’s attitude in the near future has been taken into account’. 250 On 14 March 2024 the preliminary questions referred by the Plenary Session of the Council of State (CoE) in its judgment No. 177/2023 concerning the inclusion of Türkiye in the national list of Member States of the European Union national list of 'safe third countries' (JMD 42799/2021), was discussed at an oral hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg on 14 March 2024. 251 At the hearing, the legal representatives of GCR and RSA focused on how the inclusion of Türkiye in the national list of “safe third countries” practically “consolidates the policy of abdication of responsibility for the protection of refugees in Europe”.252 On Friday 4 October 2024, the CJEU, in line with the Advocate’s General Opinion, 253 ruled that Member States cannot issue a decision rejecting an asylum application as inadmissible on the basis of the concept of a "safe third country" in cases where they have established that the asylum seeker will not be allowed to enter the territory of a country designated as safe. The Court accepted, however, that a country may be listed as a safe third country even if, despite its legal obligation, that third country has, in general and without any prospect of a contrary development, suspended the admission or readmission of those applicants to its territory. Therefore, the decision on the existence or not of the possibility of readmission to the third country, in this case Türkiye, becomes a prerequisite at the stage of issuing the decision on the asylum application and not at the stage of its execution, as has been the practice by asylum examination authorities in Greece, up to the present.254 On 27 February 2025, the Plenary Session of the Greek Council of State ruled by majority that the Joint Ministerial Decision (538595/12.12.2023), which established Türkiye as a safe third country, must be annulled. The decision accepted the fact that the necessary legal criteria outlined in Article 91 of Law 4939/2022, which are in line with EU Directive 2013/32/EU, were not sufficiently assessed. Furthermore, the Court unanimously annulled the individual decisions made by the Appeals Committees that rejected the examined asylum applications from Türkiye nationals based on Türkiye’s designation as a safe third country. The Court finally noted that, since Turkey had suspended the readmission of asylum seekers in March 2020, the Greek authorities cannot reject asylum claims as inadmissible on the grounds of Türkiye being a safe third country, in line with the CJEU’s ruling in October 2024 (C-134/23).255 However, concerns have been and continue to be raised regarding the compliance of the Ministry and responsible authorities with the Council of States’ decision.256 2.2. The domestic framework: Reception and Identification Centres The 2010 Greek Action Plan on Asylum already provided that third-country nationals should be subjected to first reception procedures upon entry. The competent authority to provide such services was the First 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 Greek Council of State, Decision 177/2023, 3 February 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3GvzhGl. RSA, Greek Council of State: Preliminary questions regarding Turkey as a safe third country, 6 February 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4156P7u; RSA, Key points on the Greek Council of State ruling on the “safe third country” concept, 17 February 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3RriH0o. GCR RSA Joint Press Release, Hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union on Thursday 14 March on the preliminary questions of the Greek Council of State regarding Turkey as a "safe third country", 13 March 2024, https://tinyurl.com/yjpfa4w2 ECRE, Greece: More Crossings and Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea ― One of “Moria6” Loses Appeal Against Arson Conviction ― NGO Report on Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Asylum Policy on Lesvos ― Concerns about Lack of Accommodation on Crete Following Large Number of Arrivals ― CJEU Hearing on Designation of Türkiye as a “Safe Third Country”, 15 March 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3VOMdzq. See Opinion of the CJEU Advocate General in Case C-134/23, available here. See Judgment of the CJEU in Case C-134/23, available here. See also GCR, Joint Press Release, CJEU ruling on the concept of "safe third country", 8 October 2024, available here. Announcement by the President of the Council of State on the outcome of the conference on cases discussed in plenary on 7 February 2025 concerning the designation of Türkiye as a safe third country, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc6kwjb4. Documento, “Βαφτίζει «ασφαλή χώρα» την Τουρκία η Βολουδάκη – Νέα πρόταση στο ΣτΕ από το υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης, 27 March 2025, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/4a4rtmpw. 62