Migrants, European Parliament gives green light to new rules on safe third countries

Strasbourg (France), 10 February (LaPresse) – The European Parliament has given the green light to the first EU list of safe countries of origin and to rules establishing when a non-EU country can be considered safe. Specifically, with regard to the list of safe countries, out of 652 voters, 408 voted in favour, 184 against and 60 abstained. As for the concept of a safe third country, out of 652 voters, 396 voted in favour, 226 against and 30 abstained. The rules, agreed in trilogue with the Council, concern the processing of asylum applications and amend the Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted by Parliament in April 2024 and in force since June this year. The first common EU list of safe countries of origin is established, which includes, in line with the Commission’s proposal, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia. This will allow for an accelerated procedure for asylum applications submitted by citizens of these countries. EU candidate countries will also be presumed safe for their own citizens, unless specific circumstances justify a different assessment, such as indiscriminate violence linked to armed conflict, an EU-wide asylum recognition rate of more than 20% or sanctions for fundamental rights violations. EU countries will still be able to designate additional safe countries of origin at national level, with the exception of those suspended from the EU list. During the negotiations, MEPs and the Council also agreed that certain provisions on the national designation of a safe country and the early application of accelerated procedures at the border could enter into force even before the EU asylum legislation becomes fully applicable in June 2026. The updated rules will allow Member States to declare asylum applications inadmissible when applicants have a connection with, have transited through or can be transferred to a non-EU country considered safe, based on bilateral or EU-level agreements with third countries. Under the new legislation, an appeal against an inadmissibility decision will not automatically suspend return decisions. The vote concludes the European Parliament’s first reading. The text will now be sent to the Council for final adoption.