12 M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT 3. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 61. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which has been part of the primary law of the European Union since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, contains an express provision guaranteeing the right to asylum, as follows: Article 18 – Right to asylum “The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.” 4. The “Dublin” asylum system 62. Since the European Council of Tampere in 1999, the European Union has organised the implementation of a common European asylum system. 63. The first phase (1999-2004) saw the adoption of several legal instruments setting minimum common standards regarding the reception of asylum-seekers, asylum procedures and the conditions to be met in order to be recognised as being in need of international protection, as well as rules for determining which member State is responsible for examining an application for asylum (“the Dublin system”). 64. The second phase is currently under way. The aim is to further harmonise and improve protection standards with a view to introducing a common European asylum system by 2012. The Commission announced certain proposals in its policy plan on asylum of 17 June 2008 (COM(2008) 360). (a) The Dublin Regulation and the Eurodac Regulation 65. Council Regulation No. 343/2003/EC of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the member States by a third-country national (“the Dublin Regulation”) applies to the member States of the European Union and to Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. 66. The Regulation replaces the provisions of the Convention determining the State responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the member States of the European Communities, signed on 15 June 1990 (“the Dublin Convention”). 67. An additional Council Regulation, No. 1560/2003/EC of 2 September 2003, lays down rules for the application of the Dublin Regulation.