The countries of the European Union (EU) reached an agreement this Monday on two legislative proposals linked to “safe countries” aimed at speeding up the return of migrants who have no chance of seeing their asylum request accepted on Community territory.
On the one hand, they agreed on a new regulation that re-examines the concept of a safe third country in order to expand the circumstances in which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible. In particular, there is no need for a “connection” to the country in order to return a migrant.
On the other hand, they gave the green light to the first list of countries of origin considered “safe”, which includes, in addition to Morocco and Colombia, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kosovo and Tunisia, as well as in principle also the candidate countries for membership.
Today’s agreement on the two proposals constitutes the Council’s position for future negotiations with the European Parliament. “These new EU migration laws aim to establish faster and more efficient asylum procedures for those who should not benefit from protection within the EU,” the EU Council said after the vote. For his part, the European Commissioner for the Interior, Magnus Brunner, indicated that these measures “will make it possible to process applications more efficiently and reduce pressure on asylum systems”.
Spain voted against regulations relating to the concept of a safe third country, as did France and Portugal. The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, rejected the text, saying that it “breaks with the integrity” of the pact on migration and asylum by “modifying an element that was crucial to it, before the pact began to enter into force”. He assures that Spain has “serious legal doubts”, since it foresees the possibility of concluding non-binding legal agreements with third countries for the return of migrants.
France was also against a settlement. “We believe that this carries political, social and constitutional risks and we run the risk that member states that do not widely apply this concept will be victims of secondary movements,” French Minister Delegate Marie-Pierre Vedrenne said during the debate.
For its part, Portugal shares doubts about the regulations with Spain and France and expresses concern about the abandonment of the criterion of link with the country. She also supported Spain in rejecting the absence of an obligation to inform other Member States of agreements concluded with third countries to carry out returns and in asking that there be no European financing of bilateral agreements with third countries in this area.
Germany, on the other hand, supported the proposal because “it provides a much more pragmatic framework that respects our international obligations.”
Safe third country
The safe third country concept allows EU member states to reject an asylum application as inadmissible (i.e. without examining its content) when asylum seekers could have sought and, if eligible, received international protection in a third country considered safe for them.
Member States can apply the safe third country concept based on the three options, starting with the existence of a link between the asylum seeker and the third country. However, this link will no longer be a mandatory criterion for using the concept of safe third country.
Another option would be that the applicant has transited through the third country before arriving in the EU and the third option would be that there is an agreement with a safe third country ensuring that a person’s asylum application will be examined in the third country.
It will not be possible to apply the concept of a safe third country on the basis of an agreement or convention in the case of unaccompanied minors.
Furthermore, an applicant who appeals an inadmissibility decision based on the safe third country concept will no longer automatically have the right to remain in the EU for the duration of the procedure, although their right to apply to a court for the right to remain will remain.
List of safe countries of origin
The first list of safe countries will “help create faster and more efficient asylum procedures, as well as the return of those who do not need protection”
The Council agreed that in addition to Morocco and Colombia, including Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kosovo and Tunisia, EU candidate countries will also be designated as safe countries of origin, except in cases of international or internal armed conflict in the country.
The Commission will need to monitor the situation in candidate countries and inform Member States when one of these exceptions applies or no longer applies.
It was also agreed to allow Brussels to suspend the designation of a safe country of origin for the whole country or only for certain parts of its territory or population, when duly justified.
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