Asylum policy: Council pushes forward EU legislation on safe countries of origin and safe third countries

The Council agreed on 8 December its position on two pieces of EU legislation that will strengthen the practical application of the fundamental safe country concept in EU asylum rules. These new EU migration laws aim to establish faster and more efficient asylum procedures for those who should not be granted protection within the EU.

The new regulation revising the safe third country concept will expand the circumstances under which an asylum application can be considered inadmissible and rejected. The Council also finalised an important element of the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum by adopting the EU’s first common list of safe countries of origin, which will allow Member States to process applications for international protection swiftly.

Safe third country concept

The safe third country concept allows EU Member States to reject an asylum application as inadmissible (i.e. without examining its merits) when the applicant would have been able to apply for and, if eligible, also obtain international protection in a non-EU country that is considered safe for them.

Under the updated rules on which the Council has agreed, Member States may apply the safe third country concept in the following three cases:

• if there is a “connection” between the applicant for asylum and the third country, but the connection criterion will no longer be mandatory for applying the safe third country concept;
• if the applicant has transited through the third country before arriving in the EU;
• whether there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country that ensures that a person’s asylum application will be examined. In the case of unaccompanied minors, it is not possible to apply the safe third country concept under an agreement or arrangement.

An applicant who appeals against a decision of non-admission based on the safe third country concept will lose the automatic right to stay in the EU for the duration of the appeal process, although he/she will still have the right to apply to a court for recognition of his/her right to stay.

EU list of safe countries of origin

The safe country of origin concept allows Member States to establish a special system for examining applications for international protection. According to the Asylum Procedure Regulation 2024, adopted as part of the Migration and Asylum Pact, Member States must apply an accelerated procedure for applicants from a safe country of origin and may do so at the border or in transit zones.

The safe country of origin rules are based on the premise that applicants from that country are presumed to enjoy sufficient protection against the risk of persecution or serious violation of their fundamental rights. Non-EU countries can only be designated as safe countries of origin if they have a high security threshold.

The Council agreed that the following countries should be considered safe countries of origin in the EU: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo*, Morocco and Tunisia.

Countries that are candidates for accession to the EU are also considered as safe countries of origin, unless:

• there is a situation of international or internal armed conflict in the country,
• restrictive measures affecting fundamental rights and freedoms have been adopted; or
• the percentage of positive decisions by Member State authorities on applicants from that country exceeds 20%.

The Council’s position makes it clear that the Commission should monitor the situation in EU candidate countries and inform Member States when any of these exceptions are or are no longer confirmed.

The Council also decided to allow the Commission to suspend safe country of origin status in the EU for the whole country, or only for parts of its territory or population, when duly justified. Member states may continue to have their own national lists of safe countries of origin with non-EU countries other than those on the EU list.

The Council also endorsed the Commission’s proposal to accelerate the implementation of certain provisions of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which were previously scheduled for June 2026.

Next steps

The two agreements reached today allow the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament in order to agree on a final legal text.

Background

The safe third country concept The safe third country concept is already part of the EU’s rulebook on asylum and migration. According to a review clause agreed in the framework of the Pact, the Commission was to review the rules by June 2025 and present specific amendments, if necessary.

Safe country of origin: The Asylum Procedure Regulation, which is part of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, provides for the creation of an EU list of safe countries of origin. At the request of many Member States, the Commission already proposed such a list before the entry into force of the Pact.

For more information: Council of the European Union