Overview
- In early July the European People’s Party formally approved a Vienna resolution calling for stricter border controls, including automatic rejection of people arriving from so‑called safe third countries.
- The CDU and CSU played a leading role in drafting the text, and CDU interior expert Detlef Seif called the package a potential “gamechanger” and urged the Commission to propose laws quickly.
- Key policy demands in the resolution include ending the EU’s subsidiary protection status, widening fast‑track border asylum procedures for nationals from low‑recognition countries, and new powers to refuse politically instrumentalized migration.
- The text also endorses exploring deportation or return centres outside Europe, a measure that would depend on willing third countries and face major legal and logistical hurdles.
- The resolution is a party political position, not law, and any change would require the European Commission, the European Parliament and member states to draft, agree and implement measures that will likely prompt legal challenges and affect asylum seekers’ access to protection.