Implementing the statelessness provisions in the EU Pact on Migration & Asylum October 2024 Convention, and strengthening protection and avoiding discrimination. Article 2(2) also incorporates the international legal definition of a stateless person. In Recital 56, the Eurodac Regulation references the 2015 Council Conclusions on Statelessness and recalls the commitment that all Member States have made to accede to the 1954 Convention. The Common Implementation Plan organises implementation of the Pact into 10 ‘Building Blocks’. The new statelessness provisions are mentioned under Building Block 2 (A new system to manage migration flows at the EU external borders) and Building Block 4 (Fair, efficient, and convergent asylum procedures). Building Block 9 (New safeguards for applicants for international protection and vulnerable persons, and increased monitoring of fundamental rights) is also particularly relevant as this focuses on the identification of vulnerabilities and special procedural and reception needs, as well as children’s rights, and monitoring fundamental rights. Under Building Block 9, the Commission’s Operational Checklist highlights that Member States must assess, and if necessary, address their capacity to identify and assist persons with vulnerabilities across all screening and border procedures. This includes a direct reference to the new provisions requiring identification of indications of statelessness in Article 12(3-4) of the Screening Regulation. Member States must therefore ensure that they have the capacity at the national level to identify, assess, and follow-up cases of (potential) statelessness. To implement the new statelessness provisions effectively, ENS recommends that: 1. The European Commission - Continues to highlight the new statelessness provisions in its engagement with Member States, providing support to national authorities to include and reflect these new provisions in their national implementation plans and national strategies, and to operationalise these, including by producing guidance on how to identify indications of statelessness, for example by developing standalone, accessible, operational guidelines for frontline officials - Considers the new statelessness provisions and incorporates relevant information to facilitate their implementation when revising the Practical Handbook for Border Guards and bringing together border guards, asylum officials, and return case workers to ensure a common understanding between key actors of how to identify and record initial indications of statelessness pending a determination