The EASO, the European Asylum Support Office, is from now fully operational. The EASO is established with the aim of enhancing practical cooperation on asylum matters, and helping Member States fulfil their European and international obligations to give protection to people in need.

Cecilia Malmström, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, believes that the Support Office offers valuable support to Member States by facilitating practical cooperation in all aspects of the assessment of asylum claims and in the reception of asylum seekers. She also added that it will provide support to Member States confronted with unexpected inflows of asylum seekers and to those which simply need to make their asylum system more fair and efficient. During the first semester of 2010, the Council and the European Parliament formally approved the creation of a European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and Member States chose to locate its headquarters in Valletta, Malta.

The EASO supports Member States in their efforts to implement a more consistent and fair asylum policy, for example by helping to identify good practices, organising training at the European level and improving access to accurate information on countries of origin. The new Office began some of its activities in November 2010, and as of 19 June it is fully operational. It also provides technical and operational support to Member States facing "particular pressures" (i.e. Member States that receive large numbers of asylum claims in a given period). Such support is channelled through the deployment of asylum expert teams who can help alleviate some of the pressure on the country's asylum systems.

The Commissioner Malmström also underlined that the EASO is an indispensable instrument to help achieve a more comprehensive and protective Common European Asylum System. Practices for receiving asylum seekers still vary considerably from one EU country to the other and much more needs to be done to achieve a greater convergence of approaches.