Protection Gaps in Europe?

This work is a legal study aimed at finding whether the content of complementary or 'subsidiary protection' at European Union level, given the wording of the Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted, comprehends also people fleeing armed conflicts and indiscriminate violence. The legal quagmire created by the Directive, aiming at offering protection to those facing 'a serious and individual threat to a civilian's life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict', will be analysed in the light of the two different readings of the protection afforded by Article 3 ECHR and Article 15 of the Qualification Directive, bearing in mind, on one hand, the recent rulings of the ECtHR concerning non-refoulement to a place torn by conflicts, indiscriminate violence and gross human rights violation, and, on the other, the general principle of EU legislation which requires that every norm has its efficacy or effet utile.