The Council of the European Union today adopted its negotiating position on two key pieces of legislation that will make it easier and faster to reject asylum applications from people who, according to the EU, do not need international protection.
The measures are among the final building blocks of the 2024 Migration and Asylum Pact and are designed to reduce the number of irregular arrivals by removing incentives to undertake dangerous journeys to Europe.
First-ever EU list of “safe countries of origin”
For the first time, the EU will have a common list of countries considered safe enough that their nationals are generally not at risk of persecution or serious harm. Applications from people coming from these countries can be processed in accelerated procedures, including at the border.
The seven countries unanimously designated today as safe countries of origin at EU level are:
Bangladesh
Colombia
Egypt
India
Kosovo*
Morocco
Tunisia
All current EU accession candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine) are also automatically considered safe unless one of three exceptions applies: an ongoing armed conflict, restrictive measures affecting fundamental rights, or a recognition rate above 20 % across the EU. The European Commission will continuously monitor the situation and can propose suspending the “safe” designation for an entire country or specific regions or groups if conditions worsen.
Member states remain free to add further countries to their own national lists.
Overhauled “safe third country” rules
The second agreement significantly broadens the circumstances in which EU countries can declare an asylum application inadmissible without examining the merits of the claim.
Under the revised rules, a member state may reject an application as inadmissible if the applicant:
has a “connection” with a safe third country (the connection criterion is now optional, not mandatory), or
has merely transited through a safe third country on the way to the EU, or
is covered by a formal agreement or arrangement with a safe third country that guarantees their application will be examined there.
The third option – processing asylum claims outside the EU under bilateral or multilateral deals – cannot be applied to unaccompanied minors.
Importantly, applicants who appeal against an inadmissibility decision will no longer automatically have the right to remain in the EU while their appeal is pending, although they can still ask a court to grant them permission to stay.
Political reactions
Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Rasmus Stoklund, whose country has long pushed for external processing of asylum claims, welcomed the agreements.
“We have a very high influx of irregular migrants, and our European countries are under pressure,” Stoklund said. “Thousands are drowning in the Mediterranean or abused along migratory routes while human smugglers earn fortunes. This shows that the current system creates unhealthy incentives and a strong pull factor. Today’s agreements help break that cycle.”
He described the revised safe third country rules as a crucial step toward enabling member states to conclude agreements with non-EU countries for asylum processing outside Europe.
Accelerated implementation
The Council also backed the Commission’s proposal to bring forward the entry into force of several provisions of the Migration and Asylum Pact from the original date of June 2026, meaning the new safe-country rules could start applying as early as mid-2025.
Next steps
With the Council’s positions now adopted, formal negotiations (“trilogues”) with the European Parliament can begin immediately. Both sides aim to reach final agreement before the end of the current legislative term.
The two measures adopted today are widely seen as the last major pieces needed to complete the legal framework of the 2024 Pact, which EU leaders have repeatedly described as a turning point for managing migration and asylum in a “firmer, fairer and more efficient” way.