The three laws substantially rewrite EU asylum rules and will help activate the Migration and Asylum Pact next year
U interior ministers clinched a sweeping package of migration reforms on Monday, closing the last major gaps in the bloc’s migration overhaul and unlocking negotiations with the European Parliament.
The three files substantially rewrite EU asylum rules and plug into the Migration and Asylum Pact – the EU’s flagship plan – which is due to take effect by June 2026.
Meeting in Brussels, ministers signed off on what the European Commission has long called the “missing piece” of the system: the so-called returns regulation. The law was first proposed in March and makes it possible for EU countries to establish “return hubs” outside EU territory for migrants awaiting repatriation.
The deal “will make it possible for both the EU and one or more member states to make an arrangement or agreement with a third country on return hubs,” Danish Immigration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said.
Ministers also backed the safe third country concept overhaul, tabled in May, which would make it easier to reject asylum claims and enable deportations to countries the applicant merely transited through.
For the first time, EU countries will have a safe country of origin list at the European level, including Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia. In addition to these seven, the Commission also considers EU membership candidate countries like Turkey and Georgia safe. Applications from these nationalities will be handled much faster.
