On Wednesday 19 November, the Member States discussed the concept of mandatory mutual recognition of national decisions on the return of people residing illegally in the European Union.
The Danish Presidency of the EU Council wanted to gauge the support of national delegations for its latest compromise proposals. In a text dated 13 November, it offered new flexibilities to Member States concerned about an administrative overload or reduced efficiency of their own returns systems (see EUROPE 13754/5).
However, according to one source, discussions at the level of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) have not yet resulted in an agreement. Several delegations remain sceptical, while others want a slightly more restrictive mutual recognition system, whereas Copenhagen has opted for greater flexibility for Member States.
However, reaching a political agreement in principle (‘general approach’) on 8 December, at the Home Affairs Council, is not out of the question, as the Presidency still plans to devote more than five Working Party meetings to this end.
Discussions have reportedly revealed that a large number of Member States and the European Commission continue to favour mutual recognition as a means of ensuring a more efficient system, while another large group of countries still have reservations about the proposed model, which they see as likely to add to bureaucratic procedures.
The Danish Presidency remains convinced that, given the political importance of the issue, a solution must be found in the coming weeks. According to several sources, it wants to do everything possible to obtain a comprehensive agreement in December, as a partial agreement makes no political sense.
In its last text, Denmark maintained a mandatory principle, but introduced new flexibilities so that Member States could not enforce a decision issued by another authority and/or substitute a new return decision.
For example, enforcement may not be carried out under the following conditions:
- if it is “contrary to the public policy of the enforcing Member State in particular in relation to the exercise of its prerogatives in the foreign relations with third countries;
- a large number of third-country nationals to be returned places an unforeseen heavy burden on the capacity of the detention facilities of the enforcing Member State or on its administrative or judicial staff, and as long as the exceptional situation persists;
- the enforcement is contrary to the public policy of the enforcing Member State in relation to the return of certain categories of third country nationals, such as unaccompanied minors and victims of human trafficking;
- the third-country national has lodged an appeal against the return decision in the issuing Member State”.
Discussions will continue this Thursday with the Council’s national experts.
Solidarity pool. On Tuesday, the Danish Presidency held the first High-Level Forum to prepare the ‘solidarity pool’ for countries facing a migratory crisis or strong pressure (see EUROPE 13750/13).
The meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, was an opportunity for the Member States to ask for clarification on the details of this mechanism, in particular on the possible deductions from aid contributions, to which six countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Austria) are entitled. However, no figures were discussed at this stage.
The next Forum will take place on around 27 November.
At this stage, the decision that the Council will also have to adopt on 8 December is meaningless. Although the Pact on Migration and Asylum provides for a minimum annual commitment to relocate 30,000 people and €600 million, the EU27 could decide on a lower number for 2026, given that the Pact will not take effect until mid-June. Coreper is due to discuss the issue on 3 December.
Meanwhile, the ‘Med5’ group (Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta) will meet on 28 and 29 November in Cyprus. “For our country [which will hold the Presidency of the Council in the first half of 2026, editor's note], it will be important to count on relocation commitments from the other member countries, as the pressure is so great on the island, with its rapidly saturating infrastructure”, the Cypriot deputy minister, Dr Nicholas Ioannides, explained to a group of journalists on Wednesday (see other news). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)