The process of returning migrants who entered the country illegally should soon run more smoothly in the EU. This was announced by Commission President von der Leyen. A corresponding draft will soon be presented to the EU states.
The EU Commission wants to present a new draft law on the repatriation of migrants who have entered the country illegally. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this in a letter to the 27 member states published on Monday evening. The proposal will contain “clear cooperation obligations for returned persons” and is intended to “effectively streamline the return process”.
“But we need a new legal framework to improve our ability to act,” von der Leyen added in the letter. Countries must build “a level of harmonization and trust” so that each member state recognizes the other’s decision. This would ensure that “migrants who have been subject to a return decision in one country cannot exploit loopholes in the system to avoid return in another country.”
Changes in the EU asylum system
It was only in the spring that the EU member states laboriously agreed on a reform of the Common European Asylum System (GEAS), which, among other things, provides for stricter deportation rules. Since then, the Netherlands and Hungary, among others, have demanded to be excluded from the common asylum rules. However, such so-called opt-outs require an EU treaty change that all member states must agree to.
The Geas reform agreed in the spring is scheduled to apply from June 2026. This will, among other things, make faster asylum procedures possible directly at the EU’s external borders for the first time. Leading migration experts consider Geas to be problematic in terms of the rule of law and human rights.
