Article on Cooperation with “Unrecognized Entities”—Which Would Have Opened the Door to Contact with the Taliban—Is Dropped
Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council (national governments) reached an agreement this Monday regarding the EU’s return policy. This policy will govern the conditions for individuals whose asylum applications within the European Union are rejected, and it consolidates the option for Member States to outsource deportation centers to territories outside the EU—following the model that Italy agreed upon with Albania.
The political agreement was reached after overcoming the final hurdle: the implementation date for the new regulation. The European Parliament had sought to fast-track its application to the coming January, whereas the 27 Member States wanted to allow a twelve-month grace period following its entry into force.
Ultimately, after nearly three hours of negotiations, the co-legislators agreed that most of the provisions will apply within twelve months of the regulation’s entry into force. However, certain provisions—such as the authorization to outsource deportation centers and support for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)—will begin to apply as soon as the new regulation is published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU). For the regulation to officially enter into force, both the European Parliament and the 27 Member States must still formally give their final approval to the agreed text in the coming months.
Negotiation sources confirmed to Europa Press that Article 37 of the proposal—which addressed the possibility of administrative cooperation with “unrecognized entities”—was also dropped during the negotiations. In practice, that article would have paved the way for collaboration with the Taliban regime regarding the identification and readmission of Afghan nationals arriving in the EU. In any event, the new regulation establishes an obligation for asylum seekers to agree to cooperate with authorities in order to expedite their expulsion should their asylum application be denied; furthermore, it provides for detention periods of up to 24 months for those awaiting repatriation if they fail to cooperate or if authorities deem them to pose a flight risk.
This period may even be extended by a further six months in cases involving a flight risk or where there is a reasonable prospect of expulsion, according to negotiation sources cited by Europa Press. Currently, the option of detention is limited to a six-month period—based on a flight risk or obstruction of an already-decided expulsion—with a possible extension of up to twelve months.
These detention periods may even be applied to unaccompanied minors and families with young children; although the regulation stipulates that such detention must serve as a “last resort” and be applied for the shortest possible duration—while taking into account the best interests of the child—the legislation does not establish specific limits below the general 24-month cap.
Nevertheless, the grounds for detention and the applicable timeframes must be defined within the framework of national legislation, and it will fall to judicial authorities to adjudicate such matters. The regulation also acknowledges the competence of Member States to offer alternatives to detention—such as requiring periodic reporting, the notification of a fixed place of residence, or the payment of a financial guarantee.
Furthermore, the new regulation introduces the European Return Order (ERO)—a standardized form in which Member States must record the key elements of a return decision. The aim of this measure is to facilitate future mutual recognition, as Member States will thereby possess the necessary information to recognize return decisions issued by other Member States.
According to a statement issued by the Council, the mutual recognition of return decisions will remain voluntary for the time being; however, the mechanism is scheduled for review three years after the regulation enters into force, at which point the Commission may submit a legislative proposal to make such mutual recognition mandatory. DETENTION CENTERS
The new regulation—which will replace a directive adopted nearly two decades ago—formalizes the deportation centers through which the Union seeks to externalize the return process for migrants denied asylum to third countries. The objective is to ensure that these individuals remain outside EU territory while their definitive deportation to the appropriate country of origin or transit is being processed.
In this way, the bloc endorses models similar to the one the Italian government under Giorgia Meloni negotiated with Albania—to which migrants ineligible for asylum are transferred while their expulsion is being managed—and acknowledges that such agreements may be negotiated by one or more individual countries, or even by the Union itself.
In any case, these models—for which a new legal framework is being established, as they were previously incompatible with EU law—cannot serve as a destination to which unaccompanied minors are transferred. Such centers may serve as a final destination or as transit hubs to facilitate return to the country of origin or to another third country.
“As of today, the European Union has a more serious, orderly, and credible migration policy,” celebrated Javier Zarzalejos—a member of the Popular Party and Chair of the parliamentary Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs—in a statement. He affirmed his support for the “orderly, regular, and labor-market-linked” management of migration, standing “in opposition to the irregular channels and mass regularizations promoted by the Sánchez government.”
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also applauded the agreement, arguing that “an effective migration and asylum policy must be accompanied by a credible returns policy.” “Tonight’s agreement on the new Returns Regulation—which complements the Pact on Migration and Asylum—will make the return of migrants with no right to remain in the EU faster and more consistent across Europe,” the Maltese conservative highlighted in a statement.
The agreement has faced harsh criticism from organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which warned that the outcome would be “legislation riddled with dangerous loopholes” that leaves migrants unprotected. “Most concerning is that governments have rushed to bolster deportation powers without establishing adequate safeguards to prevent unlawful detention, abuses of power, and human rights violations,” warned Marta Welander, the IRC’s EU Policy Director.
For her part, Mélissa Camara—the MEP who negotiated on behalf of the Greens—slammed the outcome of the negotiations as a “disgrace,” criticizing the fact that the agreement was forged by a majority coalition between the European People’s Party (EPP) and far-right political forces. “It represents a historic setback for the fundamental rights of exiles. The legalization of return centers outside the European Union, the authorization for the detention of minors, and home visits inspired by ICE practices—the legal arsenal in the service of a xenophobic ideology is now complete,” criticized Camara.
