EU countries have made “considerable progress” in preparing to implement the Pact on Migration and Asylum, but more work is needed before the new rules start applying on 12 June 2026.
The Pact, adopted in May 2024, is made up of 10 linked laws that overhaul the EU’s migration and asylum framework, including new screening and border procedures and changes to how responsibility for asylum claims is handled, the European Commission stressed in a statement on Friday.
Most Member States are adapting national legislation and setting up mandatory screening and border procedures, including independent mechanisms to monitor fundamental rights.
Countries have also been working on having enough reception capacity — the accommodation and support provided to people seeking asylum — and improving their ability to carry out transfers to the member state responsible for an application.
At EU level, the Council has established the first Annual Solidarity Pool, a step that puts the solidarity mechanism under the Pact “on track”, the Commission said. Under the Pact, Member States are expected to contribute to shared efforts through so-called solidarity pledges.
Gaps still to be closed before June 2026
Remaining work includes testing and putting in place the new Eurodac system — the EU’s central biometric database for fingerprint and other identity data used in asylum and migration management, the Commission said.
More facilities are also needed for screening and border procedures, it added.
The Commission declared that further steps are required on measures to prevent people absconding and making “secondary movements”, meaning travelling on to another EU country after arriving or applying for asylum in a first member state.
Work also remains on rules governing responsibility and transfers, and on making legal safeguards and guarantees operational, including the fundamental rights monitoring mechanism.
The Commission said it is supporting member states alongside EU agencies including the European Union Agency for Asylum, eu-LISA, Frontex, Europol and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.
It has made €3 billion available to support implementation of the Pact and to cover temporary protection for Ukrainians.
Illegal border crossings at the EU’s external borders fell by 26% in 2025 compared with 2024.
