The EU is creating the basis for a significantly stricter deportation policy.
Dec 18, 2025, 03:53Dec 18, 2025, 03:53
In the future, the EU states should also be able to bring people seeking protection to countries to which those affected have no connection, according to an agreement reached by representatives of the member states and the European Parliament.
The EU Parliament is in favor of a drastic change in asylum policy.Image: keystone
Until now, it was necessary for asylum seekers to have a close connection to such a third country, for example through family members or a longer stay. According to the EU states’ proposal, it could be sufficient in the future if there is an agreement between a member state and the third country.
The change in the law still needs to be confirmed by the EU Parliament and the EU states. Normally this is a formality if the institutions’ negotiators have previously agreed on a compromise.
Those seeking protection can therefore also be deported to countries they have never been to and to which they have no family, cultural or other ties. This so-called connecting element becomes optional. For unaccompanied minors, however, there is the exception required by the EU states. For them, a connecting element to the country to which they are to be deported remains a necessary condition.
Is Europe trying the “Rwanda model”?
This is also intended to create the legal basis for the so-called Rwanda model. Great Britain wanted to bring asylum seekers to Rwanda, who would then stay there if they were granted protection status after the examination.
The plan could never really be implemented due to court decisions – the new Labor government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer ultimately overturned the asylum pact with Rwanda. According to British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the project cost more than 700 million pounds (around 830 million euros).
There was previously criticism of the right-wing majority
At midday, the European Parliament cleared the way for negotiations with a right-wing majority. Mostly members of the right-of-center factions voted in favor of the project, including members of the AfD. The Left, the Greens and the Social Democrats in particular voted against it.
Criticism came from all three camps – including the actions of the EPP group in the European Parliament, which includes the CDU and CSU. The EPP wants asylum policy to be tightened as quickly and as extremely as possible and is willing to work with “right-wing extremists, climate deniers and Putin lobbyists,” criticized Erik Marquardt, leader of the Green Party in the EU Parliament.
The EPP argues that it does not actively work with right-wing extremists on legislative proposals. The firewall also stands at the European level, EPP leader Manfred Weber (CSU) had said in the past.
The EPP MP and negotiator Lena Düpont praised the agreement reached that night. “It gives the member states the necessary tools to make procedures more efficient,” said the CDU politician. It is regrettable that Social Democrats and left-wing parties tried to block the reforms and thus once again refused to objectively address the real challenges of irregular migration.
Asylum reform will be changed before it is implemented
The handling of the so-called connecting element was already under discussion last year during the negotiations on the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The Greens, part of the then ruling traffic light coalition in Germany, had always rejected deletion.
Finally, it was established that the connecting element should be checked again after a while as necessary conditions – but remains mandatory for the time being. Even before the European asylum reform comes into force in the middle of next year, this requirement for deportations to third countries will now be abolished.
No agreement yet on safe countries of origin
In addition to the so-called third country solution, representatives of EU states and the European Parliament have also negotiated an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin. According to the proposal, people should be able to be deported to Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt more quickly. Kosovo, Colombia and the South Asian states of India and Bangladesh are also to be added to the list.
In principle, countries that are candidates for EU membership should also be considered safe. These would then include Albania, Montenegro or Turkey. No agreement could be reached on this in the evening. (sda/dpa)