The case concerned the Dublin transfer of an applicant to Romania and the examination of the feasibility of the transfer in light of the individual circumstances of the applicant in Romania. The Regional Administrative Court noted that according to Romanian legislation, if more than nine months passed after the end of the asylum procedure, an applicant can only submit a subsequent application upon return, thus resulting in a legal status less advantageous than first time applicants, including an exclusion from the material reception conditions (information based on the AIDA Country Report Romania, 2020).

The Administrative Court assessed the transfer based on the risk for the applicant to be exposed to treatment contrary to the Article 4 of the EU Charter due to weaknesses of the asylum and reception systems, thus rebutting the presumption that all countries part of the CEAS are compliant with international standards with regard to treatment of applicants.

The Administrative Court reiterated that it is a high threshold to be demonstrated and it is reached if an applicant, entirely dependant on national authorities assistance, would find himself or herself in a situation of extreme material hardship, lacking access to basic needs (food, hygiene, accommodation) and putting the applicant’s physical and mental health in danger, contrary to human dignity, due to insufficient action by the respective State (reference to the CJEU case Ibrahim, C-297/17, 19 March 2019).

In this particular case, the Administrative Court found that the high threshold is likely to be reached for a transfer to Romania because the later does not offer accommodation and material reception conditions to subsequent applicants, contrary to the EU law, according to which such restrictions are to be taken in exceptional cases. The Administrative Court held that the applicant risks being exposed to treatment contrary to the Article 4 EU Charter, also in light of her multiple health issues (cervical herniated disc with back pain, hypertonus, post-traumatic stress disorder with moderate depressive episode), her advanced age and the lack of language skills in Romania. All these factors lead to the conclusion that the applicant will probably not be able to secure her existential livelihood independently, and the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a deterioration of the economic situation adds to the difficult situation the applicant would find herself, also in the absence of a family network or high professional skills.