EU member states have approved new rules designed to speed up the return of non-EU nationals who have no legal right to stay in the bloc.
The measures are due to come into force in the coming weeks and are intended to sit alongside the EU’s pact on migration and asylum, the Council of the EU announced on Thursday.
The rules set out EU-wide procedures for return and introduce new obligations for people ordered to leave, including a requirement to cooperate with national authorities.
Failure to cooperate could lead to sanctions under national law, including reduced benefits or allowances, financial penalties, or criminal sanctions where they exist.
Around two in three people ordered to leave the EU do not actually leave, Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan said.
European return order and return hubs
A new “European Return Order” form will be introduced so member states can share key information needed to recognise return decisions issued elsewhere in the EU, the Council said.
Mutual recognition of return decisions will remain voluntary at first and will be reviewed three years after the rules take effect.
The regulation also introduces special measures for people assessed as posing a security risk, including the possibility of an indefinite entry ban where “justified and proportionate” and detention for longer than 24 months.
Member states will also be able to send people who have received a return decision to “return hubs” in non-EU countries under agreements with those countries.
Any such arrangement must be with a country that respects international human rights standards and international law, including the principle of non-refoulement — a rule that bars returning someone to a place where they would face persecution or serious harm.
Unaccompanied minors are excluded from return-hub arrangements.
The regulation will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and will enter into force the following day, with some provisions applying immediately and others taking effect a year later.
