3. STATELESSNESS DETERMINATION AND PROTECTION IN EUROPE Only ten countries in the Statelessness Index have established dedicated procedures to identify and determine statelessness (SDPs), which lead to a statelessness status.24 France, Hungary, Latvia, and Moldova are among the countries assessed most positively on this theme in the Statelessness Index. Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom also have SDPs leading to a statelessness status but are assessed less positively due to shortcomings in their procedures. For example, in Bulgaria, the protection afforded to recognised stateless people is significantly lower than the standard established by the 1954 Convention. Spain’s SDP is established by Royal Decree, but procedural rules are not set out in law. Ukraine introduced an SDP in June 2020, and the bylaws required to operationalise the procedure were adopted in April 2021. The United Kingdom bars some stateless people from statelessness status due to exclusion criteria that go beyond those permitted by the 1954 Convention. In Italy, although there is an administrative and a judicial procedure, the parameters for determining statelessness are not clearly established in law. Switzerland has an administrative procedure to determine statelessness, but it is not formalised in law. In Belgium the family courts can determine statelessness, but procedural safeguards are lacking, and determination does not lead to a residence permit nor 1954 Convention rights, so this cannot be considered an SDP. In Albania and Serbia, there is a statelessness status in law but no procedure to determine this. Almost all other countries in the Statelessness Index have mechanisms through which some stateless people may be able to have their statelessness identified ad hoc or access a residence permit and some rights, for example through immigration, international protection, humanitarian, or nationality related procedures. However, their purpose is not to determine statelessness, resulting in significant protection gaps that are further explored in Section 3.3. In Portugal, some stateless people may be able to regularise their stay on the territory in specific scenarios, but not on the basis of statelessness.