Three Iraqi nationals and their minor children, previously granted refugee status in Greece, applied for international protection in the Netherlands. 

On 30 June 2021, the Minister for Asylum and Migration acknowledged that the applicants could be considered particularly vulnerable and that therefore they were not expected to be able to exercise their refugee rights in Greece, thus deciding not to declare their applications for international protection inadmissible. After assessing them, the Minister for Asylum and Migration rejected them as unfounded and ordered their return to Iraq.  

The District Court of The Hague annulled the decisions and instructed the Minister for Asylum and Migration to decide again on their applications. The court held that the Minister should have either adopted the Greek-recognized refugee status or formally revoked it. The court emphasized that refugee status, being declaratory in nature, remains valid until a Member State revokes, terminates, or refuses to renew it. Furthermore, the court noted that the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) does not specify whether a Member State is permitted to revoke refugee status granted by another Member State. Finally, the court held that there was no legal basis under treaty law, EU law, or national law to oblige the Minister for Asylum and Migration to consult with the Greek authorities. 

On 19 April 2023, the Minister for Asylum and Migration rejected again their applications on the basis that their asylum narrative was not credible. The applicants filed an appeal against this decision. The Court clerk forwarded this appeal to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (Council of State). 

The Council of State determined that there was no clarity regarding how the Minister for Asylum and Migration should have handled international protection applications from persons who already enjoyed international protection in Greece but could not return to Greece. 

Therefore, on 30 August 2023, the Council of State submitted four preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), seeking clarification on whether a Member State must recognize refugee status granted by another Member State. In the Council of State's opinion, these preliminary questions became unnecessary following the CJEU's ruling in QY v Bundesrepublik Deutschland (C-753/22) on 18 June 2024, which provided sufficient interpretative guidance, withdrawing the preliminary questions submitted. Based on the judgment, the Council of State held that  EU law did not oblige the Minister for Asylum and Migration to automatically recognise and take over the refugee status granted by Greece when assessing that application. Thus, the Minister may re-examine whether international protection should be granted. Besides, having regard to the principle of sincere cooperation of Article 4(3) TEU, during such reassessment, the Minister must consider the decision of the Greek authorities to grant refugee status and on the elements on which that decision was based. In doing so, such principle also demands that the Minister will start exchanging information with Greece as soon as possible including: that a new application was submitted, its position on the new application and request Greece to provide within a reasonable time the information that led them to grant refugee status to the applicant. 

Based on this, the Council of State held that the rejection decisions were eligible for annulment as the Minister had not contacted the Greek authorities prior to issuing them. It held that the Minister will still have to take new decisions on the asylum applications, and it is required to conduct a comprehensive and individualized assessment based on Article 10 of the Asylum Procedures Directive (recast APD) and Article 4 Qualification Directive (recast QD). It should also consider all personal circumstances and the current situation in the country of origin. In doing so, the court ruled that the Minister should also initiate communication with the Greek authorities to understand the factual and legal grounds that led to the original recognition of refugee status and must take them fully into consideration in its assessment. The Council of State emphasized that the refugee status recognised by Greece had declaratory and not constitutive effect. Therefore, the Netherlands was not bound to accept it automatically but had to reassess it, using Chapter II and III of the recast QD and Article 29(1)(a) and (b) of the Vw 2000.  The Council of State held that the Minister for Asylum and Migration may not revoke or terminate refugee status issued by the Greek immigration authorities itself because that competence remains solely with Greek authorities. However, the court ruled that the Minister will have to share with them the outcome of her assessment and it is then for them to determine whether to revoke the status granted. 

The Council of State annulled the decisions of the Minister for Asylum and Migration and held that new decisions should be issued after a full individual reassessment and mandatory information exchange with Greece.