Negotiators have finally plugged a major gap in Europe’s migration overhaul. The new rules speed up deportations, allow up to two years’ detention, and create return hubs outside the bloc, completing a key piece of the Migration and Asylum Pact.
Late on Monday, 1 June, the European Parliament and the Council sealed a deal on the Returns Regulation, a cornerstone of the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact due to be finalised on 12 June. The agreement still requires approval by the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) and the next European Parliament plenary.
The new framework forces irregular migrants to cooperate with national authorities. It strengthens coordination between member states and paves the way for return hubs in third countries. Return decisions will be formalised through a European Return Order and shared across the Schengen Information System.
What changes
The regulation establishes stricter obligations for irregular migrants. They must cooperate with authorities and comply with return decisions.
Member states may set up return hubs in non-EU countries to host people under removal orders while they await deportation. Transfers can be made under agreements signed by individual member states, excluding unaccompanied minors. No official list of third countries has been published yet. Lead negotiator Malik Azmani (Renew/NLD) said the regulation provides a legal framework for member states to negotiate such agreements, partly in response to the legal challenges Italy faced with its Albanian model.
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Return decisions will be formalised through a European Return Order (ERO) and shared across the Schengen Information System. Mutual recognition of decisions issued by different member states will initially remain optional.
“The new regulation will speed up returns and increase the number of people without a right to stay in the EU who are returned. This agreement strengthens the credibility of EU migration policy while complementing the Migration and Asylum Pact, in full respect of human rights,” said Nicholas A. Ioannides, Cyprus’s deputy minister for migration, speaking for the rotating EU Council Presidency. Migration has been the top priority of the Cypriot presidency’s political agenda.
“For me the content is important, because it’s necessary, we’re expected to provide it, and I’m happy that my colleagues, even from a right-wing perspective, have taken their responsibility.” — Malik Azmani, lead negotiator, European Parliament (Renew/NLD)
The Parliament adopted its position on 26 March with backing from the EPP and right-wing groups, while the Council reached its own on 8 December 2025. Lead negotiator Azmani stressed that the talks focused on substance over political divisions. “For me the content is important, because it’s necessary, we’re expected to provide it, and I’m happy that my colleagues, even from a right-wing perspective, have taken their responsibility,” he said.
Rights groups push back
The agreement also tightens detention rules. Irregular migrants may be detained after an individual assessment if they fail to cooperate, are deemed a flight risk, or pose a security concern. Detention can last up to two years, with a possible six-month extension.
NGOs have warned the rules go too far. Detention could stretch to 30 months where there is a “reasonable prospect of removal”, including in cases involving children. Authorities will also be able to use “investigative measures”, searching migrants, their homes, belongings, and electronic devices.
Maria Nyman, Secretary General of Caritas Europa, warned that such measures risk undermining fundamental rights protections. Critics say the powers could lead to human rights violations and racial or ethnic profiling.
Implementation timeline
The regulation will enter into force after publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Provisions linked to the external dimension of returns will apply immediately. Others will take effect after 12 months, giving member states time to adapt legislation, upgrade IT systems, and train personnel.
The regulation fills the last major gap in the EU’s migration framework. For years, the bloc has struggled to return those with no right to stay, and the new rules are designed to change that.
