Overview
- EU justice and home affairs ministers in Brussels approved the Council’s final negotiating positions on new asylum rules, an EU-wide returns policy and common safe-country lists.
- The package enables offshore asylum processing and the creation of removals “return hubs” outside EU territory, while revising the safe third country concept to allow returns under bilateral deals.
- Member states agreed the first EU list of safe countries of origin, naming Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia.
- The plan includes a 2026 solidarity pool offering 21,000 relocations, 420 million euros in funding or other measures to support states facing higher arrivals such as Greece and Italy.
- Rights groups, including Amnesty International, say the position would make detention the default for people with return orders—potentially up to two and a half years—and narrow appeal rights, as Denmark’s presidency drives the push.