On Monday 8 December, the Council of the EU approved by a large majority the draft regulation on the return of people staying illegally in the EU, with only a handful of countries, such as Spain, opposing it.
Adopted in record time - the Commission’s proposal was presented in March - the new regulation aims to speed up and simplify return procedures, at a time when only around 20% of return decisions issued each year by the EU27 are enforced. The Danish Presidency was able to secure an agreement on the evening of 5 December following the final compromises on the compulsory mutual recognition aspect (see EUROPE 13767/14).
The new return regulation “will give the Member States a set of new tools and enable them to, in different ways, actually expel and send back migrants to their home countries who aren’t allowed to stay within the European Union”, welcomed Danish Minister Rasmus Stoklund.
“There’s also the possibility of Member States to detain migrants and there’s the possibility of Member States to create return hubs in cooperation with third countries. And in that way secure that people who aren’t allowed to stay in Europe actually also leave Europe (...) This will be in years from now obvious that this day actually is historic”, he added.
“We are in the middle of a turning point of European migration and asylum policy all together and we delivered today on different topics like the returns. That was the missing piece, one of the missing pieces in the migration and asylum policy in Europe”, welcomed European Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
The regulation establishes EU-wide return procedures, with a European return decision to be entered in the Schengen Information System for each return decision issued by an authority: mutual recognition of these decisions issued by national authorities will initially be voluntary, then, two years after the regulation comes into force, the Commission will have to assess whether it is appropriate to move to mandatory mutual recognition, possibly with a legislative amendment.
For the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, a mandatory system would send a signal to irregular migrants that fleeing to another member country will not be the solution, but it does pose problems for some countries that are worried about administrative overload or new legal appeals.
The regulation, as approved on Monday, also imposes obligations on undocumented migrants to cooperate and reside, for example, in places designated by the authorities. Detention will be possible on new grounds, for example where there is an increased risk of absconding. The maximum period of detention has also been increased to 24 months, compared with 18 at present, and will be renewable in further six-month increments.
The regulation also creates permanent bans on entry to EU territory for people who have posed and continue to pose risks to internal security.
In addition, the regulation authorises countries that so wish to set up return centres in third countries (‘hubs’), with the Commission being able - but not obliged - to be consulted on the architecture of these agreements or arrangements with third countries to check that they are compatible with fundamental rights. Families with minors may in any case be sent there, according to the EU Council’s mandate.
Such agreements or arrangements may only be concluded with a third country that respects international human rights standards and the principles of international law, in particular the principle of non-refoulement. These return hubs can serve as transit centres to the country of final return or final destination.
Reactions. Unfortunately, this agreement bears witness to the direction taken by the EU institutions and Member States over the last few months on migration policy: a renunciation of our fundamental values and human rights in the face of the populist and racist fantasies of the right and far right, deplored the French Greens/EFA MEP Mélissa Camara.
For the NGO PICUM, instead of investing in security, protection and inclusion, the EU is choosing policies that will plunge more people into danger and legal insecurity. For its part, Amnesty International denounced punitive measures that constitute “an unprecedented attack on the rights of people in precarious situations” based on migratory status, which will have serious consequences for more people.
Link to the agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/jw7 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)