New changes in safe countries of origin according to Pact on Migration and Asylum

 On 16 April, the Commission propossed to accelerate the implementation of certain aspects of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted last year and due to enter into application in June 2026. The Commission is proposing to frontload two key elements of the Asylum Procedure Regulation with the aim of supporting Member States to process asylum claims faster and more efficiently for applicants whose claims are likely to be unfounded.

 

In addition, and to support the same objective, the Commission is proposing to make use of one of the novelties of the Pact and establish an EU list of safe countries of origin, the nationals from which will see their applications processed in an accelerated or border procedure.

Frontloading key elements of the Pact: The Commission proposes to apply two important rules under the Pact already before the Pact enters into force in June next year. This covers:

• 20% recognition rate threshold: Member States can apply the border procedure or an accelerated procedure to people coming from countries where, on average, 20% or fewer applicants are granted international protection in the EU.
• Safe third countries and safe countries of origin can be designated with exceptions, giving Member States greater flexibility by excluding specific regions or clearly identifiable categories of individuals.

The Commission is also proposing to establish a first EU list of safe countries of origin. Some Member States already have national lists of safe countries of origin. An EU list will complement these and support a more uniform application of the concept, which allows Member States to process asylum claims of nationals from countries on the list in an accelerated procedure, on the basis that their claims are unlikely to be successful.

The Commission is proposing to establish a first EU list covering Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Commission is also considering that EU candidate countries, in principle, meet the criteria to be designated as safe countries of origin since as part of their EU membership path, they are working towards reaching the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. A candidate country would be excluded only under certain specific circumstances: indiscriminate violence in conflict situations, sanctions adopted by the Council towards that country, or an EU-wide recognition rate of asylum applicants higher than 20%.

The Commission’s proposal draws on an analysis from the EU Agency for Asylum and other sources, including information from Member States, UNHCR and the EEAS.

The EU list of safe countries of origin can be expanded or reviewed over time. Countries can also be suspended or removed from the list, should they no longer fulfil the criteria for being designated as a safe country of origin.

The designation as safe country of origin does not establish a guarantee of safety for all nationals of that country. Member States need to conduct an individual assessment of each asylum application, independently from the fact whether a person comes from a safe country of origin or not.

Next steps

It is now for the European Parliament and the Council to agree on this proposal.

Background

As part of its work to implement the Pact, the Commission has been supporting Member States to identify areas where work can be frontloaded, to accelerate certain aspects of the Pact that will enhance the efficiency of our asylum system.

The assessment of whether a third country is a safe country of origin in accordance with the Asylum Procedure Regulation was based on a series of exchanges with Member States, the EUAA, the European External Action Service, as well as the UNCHR, and other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations.

The EUAA set out a methodology to support the identification of safe countries of origin, looking at countries of origin from which a significant asylum caseload is brought in the EU. This includes EU candidate countries; countries of origin with an EU-wide recognition rate of 5% or lower that create a significant asylum caseload in the EU; visa-free countries with an EU-wide recognition rate of 5% or lower that create a significant asylum caseload in the EU; and countries that already feature in the existing Member States’ lists of safe countries of origin.

 

More information: European Commission.