Upon request by the LIBE commitee, this study examines the workings of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), in order to assess the need and potential for new approaches to ensure aces to protection for people seeking it in the EU, including joint processing and distribution of asylum seekers. Rather than advocating the addition of further complexity and coercion to the CEAS, the study proposes a focus on front-line reception and streamlined refugee status determination, in order to mitigate the asylum chalenges facing Member States, and guarantee the rights of asylum seekers and refugees according to the EU acquis and international legal standards.