The European Union has reached a deal on a sweeping migration law that will allow migrants to be sent to “return hubs” outside Europe and make it easier for governments to remove those whose asylum claims have been rejected.
Negotiators from EU member states and the European Parliament clinched a provisional agreement on the Return Regulation late on June 1 in Brussels, after about three hours of talks, marking the most hardline shift in EU migration policy in decades.
“From today, the European Union has a more serious, orderly and credible migration policy,” said Javier Zarzalejos, the centre-right chair of the Parliament’s civil liberties committee.
The law, which would replace a directive adopted nearly two decades ago, gives a legal basis to deportation centres outside the bloc, following the model Italy agreed with Albania. Member states would be able to send rejected applicants to third countries unrelated to their origin, provided a bilateral agreement is in place. The hubs could serve as a final destination or as transit points, though unaccompanied minors would be exempt.
The deal came after negotiators settled the final sticking point: the timetable. Most measures would apply 12 months after the law enters into force, but the backing for offshore centres and for the EU border agency Frontex would take effect as soon as the text is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The regulation would also raise the maximum detention period for those awaiting return from six months to 24 months, with a possible six-month extension where there is a flight risk. Such detention could apply even to families with young children, though it is described as a measure of last resort.
A new European Return Order, a standard form setting out the key elements of each return decision, would pave the way for member states to recognise one another’s rulings. Mutual recognition would remain voluntary for now and be reviewed three years after the law takes effect, according to the Council.
During the talks, negotiators dropped a clause on administrative cooperation with “unrecognised entities” that, in practice, would have opened the door to working with the Taliban to identify and readmit Afghans, sources close to the negotiations told Europa Press.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola welcomed the deal, saying an effective asylum policy must be matched by a credible return policy.
Rights groups condemned the outcome. The International Rescue Committee warned the law was riddled with dangerous gaps that would leave migrants unprotected, with EU policy director Marta Welander saying governments had rushed to strengthen deportation powers without proper safeguards.
Greens negotiator Mélissa Camara called the result “a shame” and a historic step backwards, criticising a majority built between the centre-right and right-wing forces.
The final text will now need formal approval by MEPs and EU member states.
