“This is a complicated, difficult task, but it is a feasible one because we now have the necessary legal framework in place,” he said, saying the framework approved by the Parliament had put the initiative “on solid legal ground.”
EU lawmakers on Thursday agreed to start negotiations on new migration measures aimed at speeding up returns and penalizing rejected asylum seekers who refuse to leave.
“There is a new consensus in Europe,” said Charlie Weimers, the Swedish negotiator for the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group. “The era of deportations has begun.”
Human rights groups warn the plans could expose people to abuse. Return hubs are “essentially legal black holes,” the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian NGO, said ahead of the vote.
The concept builds on efforts already underway in some EU countries. Denmark passed a law in 2021 allowing it to transfer asylum seekers to third countries for processing, while Italy struck a deal to set up processing and deportation centers in Albania — though legal challenges have slowed those plans.
A breakdown of Thursday’s vote shows the text secured backing from a majority of MEPs in most EU countries, reinforcing expectations that negotiations with the Council — launched hours after the vote — could move quickly.