28.5.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 129/1 (Legislative acts) | DECISIONS DECISION No 458/2010/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 19 May 2010 amending Decision No 573/2007/EC establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 by removing funding for certain Community actions and altering the limit for funding such actions THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 78(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1), Whereas: The policy of the Union on the Common European Asylum System (the CEAS) is designed, under the terms of the Hague Programme, to establish a common asylum area by means of an effective harmonised procedure consistent with the values and humanitarian tradition of the European Union. Much progress has been made in recent years towards the establishment of the CEAS, thanks to the intro- duction of common minimum standards. There remain great disparities between the Member States, however, in (") Position of the European Parliament of 7 May 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal), position of the Council at first reading of 25 February 2010 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Position of the European Parliament of 19 May 2010 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) the granting of international protection and the forms that such protection takes. In its Policy Plan on Asylum, adopted in June 2008, the Commission announced its intention to develop the CEAS by proposing a revision of the existing legal instruments in order to achieve greater harmonisation of the applicable standards and by strengthening support for practical cooperation between the Member States, in particular, by a legislative proposal to establish a European Asylum Support Office (the Support Office) in order to increase coordination of operational coop- eration between Member States so that the common rules are implemented effectively. In the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, adopted in September 2008, the European Council solemnly reiterated that any persecuted foreigner is entitled to obtain aid and protection on the territory of the European Union in application of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967, and other relevant treaties. It was also expressly agreed that a European support office would be established in 2009. Practical cooperation on asylum aims to increase convergence and ensure ongoing quality of Member States’ decision-making procedures in that area, within a European legislative framework. A substantial number of practical cooperation measures have already been undertaken in recent years, notably the adoption of a common approach to information on countries of origin and the establishment of a common European asylum curriculum. The Support Office should be estab- lished in order to strengthen and develop those coop- eration measures.