File photo. [Reuters]
European Union negotiations over a new asylum return regulation collapsed without agreement, with negotiators set to resume talks June 1.
The core dispute pits the European Parliament, which demands immediate implementation upon adoption, against the Council of member-states, which initially sought a two-year delay. Member-states later signaled willingness to compromise at one year, but no deal was reached.
The regulation would expand deportations of rejected asylum seekers, authorize detention, long-term entry bans, and home searches, and allow transfers to third-country “return hubs” – offshore detention facilities unconnected to migrants’ countries of origin – under bilateral agreements.
Migration Commissioner Magnus Bruner has called the regulation the “missing piece” of the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact, scheduled for full implementation in early July. Currently, only around 20-25% of rejected asylum seekers leave the EU, according to Commission and Eurostat figures.
