Overview
- Ministers backed an EU‑wide list of seven safe origin countries—Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Colombia, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia—linked to quicker screening at external borders or transit centres, typically within three months, with periodic Commission reviews.
- The Council agreed to broaden returns by loosening the “meaningful link” test for safe‑third‑country transfers and by allowing removals to states with contractual arrangements that meet international‑law safeguards, with unaccompanied minors excluded.
- Member states settled on a phased mutual‑recognition regime for return orders, using a common form and Schengen database entries now, with recognition becoming mandatory after two years and additional measures to ease detention, removal and re‑entry bans still to be negotiated with Parliament.
- A binding solidarity pool will require either relocations—21,000 people for the second half of 2026, rising to 30,000 for a full year—or a financial or in‑kind contribution valued at €20,000 per person, though credits for past contributions and national opt‑outs may limit relocations.
- Germany’s Alexander Dobrindt cast the outcome as a decisive shift, while reporting credited the Danish presidency with brokering compromises, and BILD separately reported unconfirmed side understandings with Greece and Italy on resuming Dublin returns from June 2026.