102 Swider and den Heijer matters. The key elements of an EU directive on statelessness would consist of common criteria for i) a fair procedure for determining whether a person is stateless; ii) the standard of treatment to be accorded to stateless persons; and iii) the conditions of residence for stateless persons. Keywords Statelessness – EU – legislative competence – protection – status determination – human rights 1 Introduction Problems arising from statelessness have long been overlooked in Europe on both the national and supranational level. But this is changing. Statelessness features more prominently on the agenda of intergovernmental institutions in Europe, and several governments in Europe have established or are in the process of putting into place mechanisms that specifically address the plight of stateless persons.1 In 2014, UNHCR published its Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, which replaced three guidelines that had been published in 2012, with a view to promoting the development and implementation of law and policies relating to the protection of stateless persons.2 In December 2015, the Council of Ministers of the EU adopted its first conclusions on statelessness, in which it acknowledged the importance of identifying stateless persons and strengthening their protection.3 Despite growing European and international attention for statelessness, the debate on the formulation of actual solutions in the sphere of reducing statelessness and protecting stateless persons has until now been chiefly situated at the national level. From a legal perspective, this seems only appropriate, 1 European Parliament resolution of 14 January 2009 on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union 2004–2008 (2007/2145(INI)); Muižnieks, Nils, Stateless but not rightless: improving the protection of stateless persons in Europe, 8 April 2014, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, CommDH/Speech (2014) 6; Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1989 (2014) of 9 April 2014, ‘Access to nationality and the effective implementation of the European Convention on Nationality’. 2 U NHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons (Geneva, UNHCR, 2014). 3 Conclusions of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States on Statelessness, 4 December 2015, doc. 893/15. European Journal of Migration and Law 19 (2017) 101–135