Recital (20)

Significant changes in a third country designated as a safe third country or as a safe country of origin at Union level may disproportionately affect specific areas or groups of persons in that country, leading to different protection needs for certain applicants from that country and the necessity of safeguarding procedural guarantees of those applicants. Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 introduces the possibility to designate a third country as a safe third country or a safe country of origin with exceptions for specific parts of that third country’s territory or for clearly identifiable categories of persons. Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 also provides that the Commission is to suspend the designation of a third country as a safe third country or as a safe country of origin at Union level by means of a delegated act where there is a significant change for the worse in the situation of that country. In order to address the situation where a third country designated as a safe third country or as a safe country of origin at Union level no longer satisfies, for the whole of its territory or for clearly identifiable categories of persons in that country, the material conditions for such a designation set out in Regulation (EU) 2024/1348, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU in order to partially suspend that country’s designation in respect of specific parts of its territory or for clearly identifiable categories of persons in that country for a period of six months, where necessary, appropriate and proportionate in view of the significant changes in that country affecting that part of its territory or that category of persons. Moreover, within 3 months of the adoption of the delegated act providing for the partial suspension of the third country’s designation as a safe third country or as a safe country of origin at Union level, the Commission should present a legislative proposal to remove from the scope of that third country’s designation those parts of its territory to which the suspension applies or those categories of persons to whom the suspension applies. Where a Member State subsequently notifies the Commission that it considers, on the basis of a substantiated assessment, that, following changes in the situation of that third country, it once again fulfils the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 with respect to the country as a whole or to specific parts of its territory or to clearly identifiable categories of persons in that third country, the Commission should propose to amend the designation of that country as a safe third country or as a safe country of origin accordingly.