According to the Türkiye 2023 Report of the European Commission, returns under the EU-Türkiye Joint Declaration have not resumed since March 2020.209 It should be noted that both Greek authorities and the European Commission210 have requested Türkiye to resume returns based on the EU-Türkiye Joint Declaration.211 However, despite the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye since March 2020, Greece included Türkiye in the national list of Safe Third Countries and thus the applications lodged by individuals falling under the scope of the JMD 42799/2021 (FEK B’ 2425/07.06.2021) were still examined in the context of the Safe third country concept and the Fast-Track Border Procedure. On 2 February 2023, the Council of State issued its decision 177/2023,212 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 seekers 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’.213 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 be discussed at an oral hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg on 14 March 2024.214 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”.215 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 Reception Service (FRS), established by L 3907/2011, as described in the previous country report.216 On 3 April 2016, in the light of the EU-Türkiye statement of 18 March 2016, the Greek Parliament adopted a law ‘on the organisation and operation of the Asylum Service, the Appeals Authority, the Reception and Identification Service, the establishment of the General Secretariat for Reception, the transposition into Greek legislation of the provisions of Directive 2013/32/EU, provisions on the employment of beneficiaries of international protection and other provisions. This reform was passed through L 4375/2016.217 L 4375/2016 partially attempted to regulate the establishment and function of the hotspots and the procedures taking place thereat. However, national legislation has failed to effectively regulate the 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 European Commission, Commission Staff working document, Türkiye 2023 Report, Brussels, 08-11-2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yb43pj8m. European Commission, Key Findings of the 2023 Report on Türkiye, Brussels, 8 November 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/wdv96598. EUAA, The EU- Turkey Statement, Asylum report 2022, Return of former applicants, available at: https://tinyurl.com/r3nxu7r2. 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. AIDA, Country Report Greece 2022 update, June 2023, p.42 available at: https://tinyurl.com/m5wkkj3 L 4375/2016, Gov. Gazette 51/A/3-4-2016, available at: http://bit.ly/2kKm2cu. 56