On Monday 17 March, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sent her traditional letter on the progress made in the field of migration to the European leaders who will be meeting in Brussels on 20 and 21 March.
In it, she takes stock of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, forthcoming legislation on the concept of safe third countries, and partnerships with third countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, as well as ongoing support for Turkey. She also mentions the fate of the directive on temporary protection, which benefits more than 4 million Ukrainians in the EU and she does not propose its automatic renewal after March 2026.
‘Pact’. “We are on track to reach our goal of full readiness by June 2026”, writes the President, even though three Member States - Poland, Hungary and Ireland - have not yet delivered their plans.
The focus should be on the necessary preparedness - including in terms of personnel and infrastructure -, writes the President. “A few areas (...) require particular attention in the coming months, namely the screening phase, the border procedures, the implementation of Eurodac and Dublin procedures, as well as reception conditions”. Work is ongoing on guidance to facilitate implementation.
Member States will also benefit from an additional €3 billion over the period 2025-2027. A further €1.6 billion from the mid-term review of Member States’ programmes will supplement funding.
Safe third countries. In the coming weeks, the Commission will present a review of the safe third country concept and a first common list of safe countries of origin. “The Commission is currently preparing an EU list of safe countries of origin. For this purpose, we are drawing on analysis from the EU Agency for Asylum and other available sources of information to assess a first selection of countries chosen on objective criteria, such as low asylum recognition rates”.
With regard to the concept of a safe third country, “there is a shared understanding among Member States that some of the conditions and procedural steps need to be alleviated. We are currently examining the best way to do this, while ensuring that every person continues to have an individual assessment and that the overall functioning of the system among Member States is safeguarded”.
Partnerships with third countries. The President mentions the various partnerships, as well as Libya, with which technical contacts continued in 2024 on cooperation on anti-smuggling, border management and control of departures. “Protection of a growing number of Sudanese refugees in Libya is also a key theme, with assisted voluntary returns from Libya almost doubling in 2024, to over 16,000”.
Ukraine. “Last year, we extended the temporary protection framework to March 2026”. “We are looking at different options including whether or not to extend temporary protection depending on developments, the transition to national statuses for work, study or family reasons and support to those going back home to Ukraine. We need a common European solution that can offer predictability, stability, and a more balanced impact on Member States’ systems”, writes the President.
Links to documents: https://aeur.eu/f/fyy ; https://aeur.eu/f/fyz (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)