The year 2004 will enter the history books as the year of the enlargement of the European Union and the end of the 5-year transition period foreseen under the Treaty of Amsterdam. From 2004 onwards the issues of asylum and migration will be firmly embedded in the European Community. Minimum norms have been agreed upon. A visionary policy needs to be defined, however, with the global context truly and fully in mind. Only then efforts towards harmonization become meaningful.
Probably the best survey and overview to date, The Consolidated Asylum and Migration Acquis contains all the relevant Directives and Regulations on the sensitive and often politicized issues of asylum and migration as adopted by the European Union through 2004. The Directives have been included in a consumer-friendly manner, with an extensive index. Experts, students, parliamentarians, policy makers, the media, lawyers, civil servants and the individuals concerned will easily be able to trace articles and references and their meaning in this Handbook.

Europe has been warned by the UNHCR and others that it is coming dangerously close to trespassing upon international minimum norms. This Handbook enables the reader to see clearly where Europe really stands.

Dr. Peter van Krieken, the editor of earlier Handbooks on the asylum and migration acquis, and also the author of other titles including Terrorism and the International Legal Order, is probably the single greatest expert in this field, thanks to his wide experience in many related areas. He lectures in international law and human rights at Webster University (Leiden and St. Louis), he serves as a special advisor with the Netherlands Advisory Committee on Aliens Affairs, and he is a member of the IOM's academic advisory board. During the EU enlargement process he played an active role in and for the new Member States (Phare, Taiex, Twinning, Odysseus, Peer Reviews).