EU member states and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on new EU-wide rules intended to speed up the return of people who are in the bloc without permission to stay.
The deal covers common procedures for returning “third-country nationals” — people who are not EU citizens — who are staying illegally in a member state, the Council of the EU announced on Tuesday.
Under the agreement, people with no right to remain would be required to leave the member state concerned and to co-operate with national authorities.
If a person does not co-operate, member states would be able to apply consequences such as reducing certain benefits or allowances under national law, or refusing incentives offered to encourage voluntary return.
Where national law allows, countries could also impose criminal sanctions, including imprisonment.
Return hubs and a new EU return order
The text would allow member states to set up “return hubs” in countries outside the EU for people who have no right to stay, according to the Council.
These hubs could be used either as a final destination or as transfer centres to facilitate onward return to a person’s country of origin or another third country.
Any agreement to send people to a “country of return” would have to be made with a third country that respects international human rights standards and principles of international law, including the principle of non-refoulement — a rule that bars sending someone to a place where they face serious harm.
Unaccompanied minors would be excluded from such arrangements.
The deal also introduces a European Return Order, a standard form intended to record key details of a return decision so other member states can more easily recognise it.
Mutual recognition of return decisions would remain voluntary at first, and would be reviewed three years after the rules enter into force, when the European Commission may propose making it mandatory.
Special measures are included for people considered a security risk, including entry bans longer than the usual maximum of 10 years or potentially indefinite bans in such cases, and the option to detain people in prison.
The provisional agreement still needs formal endorsement by both the Council and the European Parliament before it can be adopted, after a legal and linguistic review.
The regulation would start being implemented once it enters into force — the day after it is published in the EU’s Official Journal — although some provisions would apply 12 months later.
The European Commission first proposed the regulation in March 2025 as part of work to complement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is due to start being implemented from 12 June 2026, according to the Council. It said the latest data show 64% of Frontex-supported returns have been voluntary.
