The EU’s home affairs ministers will discuss, on 5 December in Brussels, how to better coordinate their efforts to accelerate the return of illegal immigrants, while also making better use of the resources of the Frontex agency.
At this formal EU Council meeting on 5 December, an update will also be given on the negotiations on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and on the state of health of the Schengen area.
On the evening of Wednesday 29 November, the representatives of the Member States were also due to decide whether or not to put on the agenda the question of the enlargement of the Schengen area to include Bulgaria and Romania, which is likely to remain a thorny issue.
However, the issue of the regulation on the removal of child sexual abuse material will not be discussed at the meeting on 5 December.
With regard to returns, the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council explained in a note dated 27 November that “lately the external dimension, including the Visa Code Article 25a exercise, allowing to take restrictive visa measures against third countries which do not sufficiently cooperate on returns, as well as other initiatives at political, legal, and operational level to improve cooperation with third countries on returns and readmission, has been at the centre of the discussions in different Council bodies”.
This time, however, the Presidency would like to “invite the ministers to look into key aspects of the internal dimension of returns, notably to invest in common tools and further coordination”.
“The low number of readmission requests sent to third countries indicates that there are still significant national bottlenecks hampering returns”. The Spanish Presidency is proposing a number of avenues, such as “prioritising effective returns of third-country nationals posing a security threat” or moving towards “a European return decision”.
Detention to reduce the risk of absconding
With regard to persons posing a security risk, “Member States should ensure effective cooperation between migration and security authorities, with a smooth and timely flow of information between these authorities and a pooling of efforts to ensure that third-country nationals posing a security threat are returned to their countries of origin without delay”.
The EU Return Coordinator is due to make recommendations on this specific point, according to the memo. The Presidency is also proposing the development of pilot projects in this area.
It also points out that, at the SCIFA meeting on 23 November, delegations confirmed “that the return of third-country nationals posing a security threat should be prioritised” and that “obviously, increasing the general effectiveness of the return system would also contribute to swifter returns of third country nationals posing a security threat”.
“Avoiding absconding by not granting a period for voluntary departure and by using detention, exploring innovative solutions as regards the principle of non-refoulement, dealing with asylum requests in such cases in an accelerated manner and using current and future IT systems effectively” are avenues that Member States should consider.
The Presidency also wants to encourage reflection on how to account for return rates, “given that the return rate, which is often used to demonstrate the performance of the return system, does not currently take into account the fact that a substantial proportion of the return decisions issued are not enforceable at the time when the return rate is calculated”.
With regard to a possible “European return decision” and pending a possible revision of the 2008 Returns Directive, the Presidency proposes “looking ahead to the new legislative period and starting to reflect on other elements that could help to improve the effectiveness of returns in the European Union, and on the possible contours and parameters of a European return decision, by analysing the elements and solutions it should contain”.
However, opinions still differ between the delegations “as to whether this objective should be considered in the short term or in the long term”.
The other questions concern the link between the procedure for issuing the European return decision and the procedures for refusing legal residence or international protection, as well as limiting the number of possible appeals. Ministers will therefore be invited to give further thought to this issue. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)