EU lawmakers are clashing over how quickly the bloc should implement its new return rules. The debate highlights tensions between calls for tougher migration controls and member states warning they are not yet ready. Negotiators failed to reach a full agreement during the latest trilogue talks, with the timeline for applying the new regulation remaining the main obstacle.
After a night and half a morning spent for discussing over a trilogue, the co-legislators of the three EU institutions didn’t reach a full agreement on the EU Return Regulation — the stake seems to the timeline to entry in force of it.
In particular, the Article 52 — the provision governing the regulation’s entry into application — remains unresolved. “A compromise in principle has been found but further work needs to be done,” said co-legislators in a statement.
The proposed Return Regulation is intended to create a more harmonised EU-wide system for returning third-country nationals with no legal right to stay in the bloc, including rejected asylum seekers. The legislation — a key part of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum — aims to make returns faster and more effective by streamlining procedures, improving coordination between member states and increasing cooperation with countries of origin.
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Critics, however, argue that the proposal would push EU migration policy in a tougher direction towards detentions and deportations. The possible use of ‘return hubs’ outside the EU sparks particular controversy, raising concerns regarding human rights violations.
Last obstacle
Far from being a merely technical clause, Article 52 has become one of the key political battlegrounds in the negotiations. Under the European Commission’s original proposal, the regulation would formally enter into force twenty days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It would become applicable two years later. The delayed application period gives member states time to adapt national legislation, administrative systems, detention infrastructure and digital return-management mechanisms.
The dispute over Article 52 ultimately reveals that the debate is orbiting around the ‘political’ speed of the implementation for the different member states. MEPs want the Return Regulation “come into force as soon as possible, in order to be close to the EU Pact for Migration and Asylum entry into application” on 12 June, said sources close to the file to EU Perspectives. “The Council suggests that member states need more time to adapt their systems,” they added.
A rapid rollout would force member states to change their legal and administrative systems within a very short timeframe. A longer transition period, however, could delay the implementation of one of the EU’s most politically sensitive migration reforms.
Critics beyond the time framework
For the Commission, the proposed regulation is the ‘missing piece‘ of the upcoming EU Pact for the Migration and Asylum. Critics, however, had already described it as one of the most controversial files.
Among its strongest opponents is shadow rapporteur Estrella Galán (The Left/ESP). “The latest version of the EU’s Return Regulation is set to be one of the cruelest of the entire legislative term,” Galán said. “Parliament has surrendered to the Council’s most inhumane positions, with no meaningful improvements,” she concluded.
The EU institutions will seek a provisional agreement during the next trilogue meeting scheduled for 1 June 2026. A compromise “will likely be reached” whereby “certain articles will enter into application before others”, explained the sources.
