Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2016/05 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)52 as primary source of EU law providing that "stateless persons must be treated equally as third country nationals”. Nevertheless, EU law does not provide explicit normative guidance on how to address statelessness. The initial efforts to put the issue of statelessness on the European agenda were made by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU back in 2011 inviting Member States to engage in discussions about the prevention and reduction of statelessness, considering that statelessness as a major human rights challenge continues to prevail also in the EU context. Following the Hungarian Presidency, in November 2011 the EU Global Approach on Migration and Mobility (GAMM) was adopted which provided that: „The EU should also encourage non-EU countries to address the issue of stateless persons, who are a particularly vulnerable group, by taking measures to reduce statelessness.” In June 2012, the EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy was adopted which included among its actions the development of “a joint framework between Commission and EEAS53 for raising issues of statelessness […] with third countries” by 2014.54 The Commission and EEAS were mandated as primary facilitators in the implementation of this action. Shortly, a pledge 55 was made by the EU Delegation (EUDEL) to the UN in New York calling upon Member States to acceed to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.56 However, the above-mentioned policy framework to address statelessness with third countries was not developed by the end of 2014, which seemed to put the pressing issue of statelessness with non EU-countries on hold within EU policy discussions. Then the subsequent EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2015-2019 was adopted setting the following objective: „Continue to address the issue of statelessness in relations with priority countries; focus efforts on preventing the emergence of stateless populations as a result of conflict, displacement and the break-up of states.”57 Relating to the implementation of this engagement (marked as ’ongoing’), Member States were also put in charge further to the Commission and EEAS, which is of paramount importance. Then another major break-through occured in December 2015, not long after the European Parliament had elaborated a study on the existing practices in EU Member States to prevent statelessness.58 The Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on statelessness, 59 under the aegis of the Luxembourg Presidency, inviting the European Commission to launch an avenue for the exchange of information and good practices on the prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons within the framework of the European Migration Network. 60 Beyond the policy 52 As suggested by T Molnar, ‘Moving Statelessness Forward on the International Agenda’, Tilburg Law Review 19 (2014), footnote 21 on p. 198. 53 European External Action Service. 54 Action 14d of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2012-2015), available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/131181.pdf. 55 The pledge made by the Delegation of the European Union at the High-level meeting on the rule of law at the national and international levels, New York, 19 September 2012, available at: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/Pledges%20by%20the%20European%20Union.pdf. 56 Hereinafter: Statelessness Conventions. 57 Action 24h of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2015-2019), available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/docs/eu_action_plan_on_human_rights_and_democracy_en.pdf. 58 Practices and Approaches in EU Member States to Prevent and End Statelessness, available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/536476/IPOL_STU(2015)536476_EN.pdf). 59 Council Conclusions available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/12/04-council-adoptsconclusions-on-statelessness/. 60 The European Migration Network is an EU-funded network under the aegis of the European Commission (established by Council Decision 2008/381/EC adopted on 14th May 2008) with the aim of providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum for institutions of the European Union plus authorities and institutions of the Member States via their National Contact Points. It provides a complex platform for expert discussions and exchanges of 6