JUDGMENT OF 13. 1. 2021 – CASE C-507/19 BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND (REFUGEE STATUS OF A STATELESS PERSON OF PALESTINIAN ORIGIN) European Union law Directive 2004/83/EC 7 Articles 12(1)(a) of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or Stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted (OJ 2004 L 304, p. 12), provided: ‘1. A third-country national or a stateless person is excluded from being a refugee if: (a) he or she falls within the scope of Article 1 D of the Geneva Convention, relating to protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. When such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of such persons being definitely settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, those persons shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Directive’. Directive 2011/95 8 Recitals 1, 4, 16, 23 and 24 of Directive 2011/95 state: ‘(1) A number of substantial changes are to be made to [Directive 2004/83]. In the interests of clarity, that Directive should be recast. … (4) The Geneva Convention and the Protocol provide the cornerstone of the international legal regime for the protection of refugees. … (16) This Directive respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In particular this Directive seeks to ensure full respect for human dignity and the right to asylum of applicants for asylum and their accompanying family members and to promote the application of Articles 1, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 34 and 35 of that Charter, and should therefore be implemented accordingly. … (23) Standards for the definition and content of refugee status should be laid down to guide the competent national bodies of Member States in the application of the Geneva Convention. (24) It is necessary to introduce common criteria for recognising applicants for asylum as refugees within the meaning of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention.’ 9 Article 2 of that directive, headed ‘Definitions’, provides: ‘For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply: … ECLI:EU:C:2021:3 3