On Monday 8 December in Brussels, the EU27 Home Affairs Ministers will be called upon to validate several political agreements (‘general approach’) on ‘returns’ and the concepts of ‘safe third countries’ and ‘safe third countries of origin’, and to agree on the Commission’s proposal for the first solidarity mechanism in the area of asylum and migration.
The Ministers will also have a number of briefings, notably on the fight against drones that threaten the EU’s internal security and on the issue of tourist visas granted to Russian citizens (see EUROPE 13766/2).
Final negotiations on returns. On the regulation on the return of illegal immigrants residing in the EU, the permanent representatives of the Member States were due to meet again on the evening of 5 December to try to remove the final obstacles.
The main open point remained that of compulsory mutual recognition of decisions handed down by national authorities. The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU has been multiplying compromises and technical formulas over the last few days in an attempt to keep everyone happy.
Its latest text, for example, further amended the timetable authorising the Commission to assess whether the situation is ripe for compulsory mutual recognition.
Whereas the regulation would come into force two years after its publication, the compromise provides for this Commission assessment to take place two years after its entry into force, compared with one year in the 1 December text.
There are various reasons for this difficulty, with some Member States considering this to be a purely national prerogative and fearing that their system would be weakened, in particular by excessive administrative burdens or new appeals.
The Presidency has therefore provided for principles and situations allowing these countries not to apply return decisions issued by other authorities (“Such situations may include where an enforcement would be contrary to the enforcing Member States public policy, including in relation to the return of certain categories of third country nationals, such as unaccompanied minors and victims of human trafficking, to which national law provides for a higher level of protection; issuing a new return decision is faster; the information available in the European Return Order is incomplete; the third country national has lodged an appeal against the return decision in the issuing Member State; the third country national is to be removed to a different third country than stated in the return decision or decision ordering the removal of the issuing Member State, and there is no country of return stated in the return decision”).
However, other countries, in the east and south of the EU, would like to see a more rapid entry into force, while some people who have been ordered to return to their own country may make so-called ‘secondary’ movements to other Member States. As a result, they would no longer be responsible for enforcing decisions against these individuals.
The Danish Presidency was hoping to reach an agreement on Friday, despite the fact that European leaders have regularly called for improvements to the system, at a time when only 20% of people whose applications for asylum or residence permits in Europe have been rejected are returned.
In addition to giving Member States the option of establishing agreements/arrangements with third countries to set up return centres there, the regulation would tighten up the cooperation obligations of persons subject to a return decision, increase penalties or lengthen entry bans, and even introduce permanent bans on entry to the EU for the most high-risk profiles.
On Monday, the Ministers will also be asked to approve the revision of the Asylum Procedure Regulation on ‘safe countries of origin’ (SCO) and ‘safe third countries’ (STC) (see EUROPE 13762/6).
Solidarity. The other important decision will concern the solidarity contributions made by Member States to help countries under pressure from migration or facing a major migratory crisis. This decision sets out the annual commitments in terms of the relocation of people, financial aid or other forms of support. The discussions proved to be very delicate, as expected, even though the Danish Presidency expects to reach an agreement on 8 December.
Although the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ will not come into force until mid-2026, several Member States have argued that the commitments should only cover six months. The ‘Pact’ stipulates that each year the EU27 will commit to at least 30,000 relocations or aid of €600 million or other types of alternative aid.
According to our information, the latest proposals on the table were for 21,000 relocations and €420 million for 2026, following other proposals for 16,000 and €300 million. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)