Agreement reached: If it’s a safe country, it is not asylum

The EPP Group has secured a major step towards a more controlled and effective European migration policy. The European Parliament and EU Member States reached a provisional agreement on two laws that will speed up the rejection of asylum applications that are considered unfounded.

The negotiators of Parliament and Member States agreed on an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin, meaning that asylum claims from people coming from those countries are unlikely to be successful.

“We are taking decisive steps to guarantee effective control over migration and speed up the return of illegal migrants. By clearly distinguishing between those in need of international protection and those who are not, we are reducing pressure at our borders,” said Tomas Tobé MEP, EPP Group Vice-Chair, who negotiated the new safe origins list on behalf of the EPP.

Just before, early this morning, the negotiators also agreed on the “safe third country” concept. When someone seeking asylum passes through another non-EU country considered safe, EU countries can deem their asylum application inadmissible.

“Citizens expected us to deliver, and we did. We will speed up asylum procedures and increase the efficiency of processes, alleviating pressure and helping people out of legal limbo,” said Lena Düpont MEP, Parliament’s negotiator on the “safe third country” file and EPP Group spokeswoman on home affairs.

“It is regrettable that the S&D and left-wing parties did everything possible to stop these proposals from going through. In doing so, they show again their unwillingness to confront the real challenges posed by irregular migration with concrete and effective measures”, Tobe concluded.