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The Council of the European Union adopted the proposal to amend EU Regulation 2024/1348 regarding the implementation of the concept of "safe third country".
The only countries that opposed it were Spain, Greece, France and Portugal, although this did not affect the result because a qualified majority was achieved.
The Council also adopted the regulation establishing an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin, which will expand the circumstances in which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible.
The Council also finalised an important element of the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum, agreeing on the first common EU list of safe countries of origin, which will allow member states to swiftly process applications for international protection.
Under the "safe third country" concept, EU member states will be able to reject an asylum application as inadmissible (i.e. without examining its merits) when asylum seekers could have sought and, if admissible, received international protection in a third country considered safe for them.
Furthermore, under the laws adopted by the Council, states will be able to implement the concept of a safe third country based on three pillars: a "link" between the asylum seeker and the third country; the applicant has transited through the third country before reaching the EU; and there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country that ensures that a person's asylum application will be examined.
The third country rule, of course, does not apply to unaccompanied minors, but one of the most important changes is that an applicant who appeals an inadmissibility decision based on the safe third country concept no longer has the right to remain in the European Union while awaiting a decision.
Non-EU countries can only be designated as safe countries of origin if they meet a high safety threshold and the rules are based on the assumption that applicants from that country enjoy sufficient protection against the risk of persecution or serious violations of their fundamental rights. The list of safe countries includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia.
Furthermore, for obvious reasons, EU candidate countries are also designated as safe countries of origin at the EU level.
"Regarding the repatriation centres, it is not for me to think about third countries. These are negotiations between Member States and then with third countries. It would be positive, of course, if several parties joined forces. I am thinking of the Netherlands, which is in discussions with Uganda.
"Germany has already joined the talks, as have Italy and Albania. But it is not up to me to decide; we have already laid the legal basis for such new and innovative ideas to be taken into consideration," said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, upon his arrival at the EU Home Affairs Council.
"We now have the legal framework for Member States to set up reception centres and other similar solutions with third countries, which is extremely important to address the fundamental shortcomings of the current asylum system, its dysfunctionality, the fact that we help the wrong people and not those who are truly in need, and to control migration to Europe," said Danish Immigration Minister Rasmus Stoklund.
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