EU agrees on new legislation restricting admissibility of asylum claims

LONDON

The European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on new legislation restricting the admissibility of asylum claims by revising the safe third country concept, according to a statement.

Negotiators from the European Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on EU legislation that revises the safe third country concept and expands the circumstances under which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible, according to a statement issued late Wednesday.

The development shows the "determination of EU legislators to make the EU’s asylum system more efficient and robust," the European Council statement added.

"During our presidency, we managed to revise the 'safe third country' concept in record time allowing member states to make agreements with safe third countries on asylum processing outside Europe," Rasmus Stoklund, Danish minister for immigration and integration, said in the statement.

The safe third country concept allows EU member states to reject an asylum application as inadmissible when asylum seekers could have sought and, if eligible, received international protection in a non-EU country that is considered safe for them.

According to the new rules, member states will be able to use the safe third country concept in certain situations, including when there is a "connection" between the asylum seeker and the third country.

The concept will also be applied if the applicant transited through a third country before arriving in the EU and if there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country that ensures that a person's asylum request is processed in the non-EU country of origin.

"The Council and the European Parliament agreed to follow the Council’s approach that the safe third country concept cannot be applied on the basis of an agreement or arrangement where unaccompanied minors are concerned," said the statement.

The provisional agreement can officially be adopted only after it is confirmed by both the European Council and the European Parliament.

Informal meeting on migration management

Separately, EU leaders held an informal meeting on the margins of the European Council in Brussels to discuss innovative migration management solutions.

During the meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the main areas of work, focusing in particular on the substantial progress made regarding negotiations on the Returns Regulation and the EU list of Safe Countries of Origin, according to a statement from the Italian government.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni provided an update on the ongoing work regarding the capacity of international conventions to address the challenges of irregular migration and on planned upcoming initiatives.

The leaders also agreed to launch joint initiatives, not only at the EU and Council of Europe level but also—more generally—in the various international contexts, starting with the United Nations, in order to more effectively promote Europe’s approach to an orderly management of migration flows.