A/HRC/23/46 100. The EU has entered into several readmission agreements with third countries, facilitating the readmission of irregular migrants, including own nationals as well as third country nationals. The Council has issued negotiating directives to the Commission for 19 countries, and so far 13 EU Readmission Agreements have entered into force. Readmission clauses have been incorporated in agreements such as the European Neighbourhood Policy and visa facilitation agreements. Most recently, an EU-Turkey readmission agreement was initialled in 2012. 101. Furthermore, the ability for EU Member States to continue to conclude bilateral readmission agreements is maintained in Protocol (no 23) to the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU “on external relations of the Member States with regard to the crossing of external borders”, as long as they respect EU law and other relevant international agreements. 102. In the Stockholm Programme, the Council invited the Commission to present an evaluation during 2010 of EU readmiss ion agreements and ongoing negotiations, and to propose a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the agreements. On that basis, the Council should define a renewed, coherent strategy on readmission. Thus, in February 2011, the Commission presented a Communication to the European Parliament and the Council, aiming to evaluate the implementation of the EU Readmission agreements already in force; assess the ongoing readmission negotiations; and provide recommendations for a future EU readmission policy, including on monitoring mechanisms. The Communication recommended that as a rule, future negotiating directives should not cover third country nationals. Only in cases where there is a big potential risk of irregular migration transiting a country’s territory to the EU due to its geographical location, should the third country national clause be included, and only when appropriate incentives are offered. It further recommended that NGOs and international organizations should participate, on a case-bycase basis, in the Joint Readmission Committees, which should work much more closely with relevant actors on the ground in the third countries, including on the monitoring of the treatment of third country nationals. 103. Section 4.3 of the Commission’s Communication deals with possible measures to enhance human rights guarantees in EU Readmission Agreements, including enhancing the access to international protection and legal remedies in practice; providing for suspension clauses for persistent human rights violations in the third country concerned; giving preference to voluntary departure; requiring compliance with human rights for the treatment of third country nationals readmitted to a transit country; and setting up a post -return monitoring mechanism in the countries of return. 104. In June 2011, the Justice and Home Affairs Council adopted conclusions defining the EU strategy on readmission, stating, inter alia, that “combating illegal immigration is a major migration policy goal of the European Union”. The Council considered that more attention should be paid to the main countries of origin, but stated that it will continue, as a general rule, incorporating clauses on the readmission of third country nationals. The Council further stated that Joint Readmission Committees were to be considered as the main tools for monitoring the implementation of EU Readmission Agreements. D. 1. Legal, institutional and policy framework with regard to asylum The Common European Asylum System 105. Article 78(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that the EU shall develop a common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary protection with a view to offering appropriate status to any third-country national requiring international protection and ensuring compliance with the principle of non-refoulement. 40