The purpose of this Directive is to lay down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (‘applicants’) in Member States.
For the purposes of this Directive:
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means an application for international protection as defined in Article 2(h) of Directive 2011/95/EU;
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means a third-country national or a stateless person who has made an application for international protection in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;
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means, in so far as the family already existed in the country of origin, the following members of the applicant’s family who are present in the same Member State in relation to the application for international protection:
the spouse of the applicant or his or her unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the law or practice of the Member State concerned treats unmarried couples in a way comparable to married couples under its law relating to third-country nationals;
the minor children of couples referred to in the first indent or of the applicant, on condition that they are unmarried and regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock or adopted as defined under national law;
the father, mother or another adult responsible for the applicant whether by law or by the practice of the Member State concerned, when that applicant is a minor and unmarried;
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means a third-country national or stateless person below the age of 18 years;
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means a minor who arrives on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her whether by law or by the practice of the Member State concerned, and for as long as he or she is not effectively taken into the care of such a person; it includes a minor who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of the Member States;
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means the full set of measures that Member States grant to applicants in accordance with this Directive;
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means the reception conditions that include housing, food and clothing provided in kind, or as financial allowances or in vouchers, or a combination of the three, and a daily expenses allowance;
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means confinement of an applicant by a Member State within a particular place, where the applicant is deprived of his or her freedom of movement;
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means any place used for the collective housing of applicants;
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means a person or an organisation appointed by the competent bodies in order to assist and represent an unaccompanied minor in procedures provided for in this Directive with a view to ensuring the best interests of the child and exercising legal capacity for the minor where necessary. Where an organisation is appointed as a representative, it shall designate a person responsible for carrying out the duties of representative in respect of the unaccompanied minor, in accordance with this Directive;
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means a vulnerable person, in accordance with Article 21, who is in need of special guarantees in order to benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations provided for in this Directive.
1.This Directive shall apply to all third-country nationals and stateless persons who make an application for international protection on the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of a Member State, as long as they are allowed to remain on the territory as applicants, as well as to family members, if they are covered by such application for international protection according to national law.
2.This Directive shall not apply in cases of requests for diplomatic or territorial asylum submitted to representations of Member States.
3.This Directive shall not apply when the provisions of Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof(1) are applied.
4.Member States may decide to apply this Directive in connection with procedures for deciding on applications for kinds of protection other than that emanating from Directive 2011/95/EU.
Member States may introduce or retain more favourable provisions in the field of reception conditions for applicants and other close relatives of the applicant who are present in the same Member State when they are dependent on him or her, or for humanitarian reasons, insofar as these provisions are compatible with this Directive.