EU members seal agreement to revamp asylum procedures

After nearly a decade of negotiations, European Union (EU) ministers have reached a deal to revamp the bloc's asylum procedures. The agreement, which received the green light from front-line members Italy and Greece, aims to address the divisions that emerged in 2015 when over a million people, mostly fleeing the war in Syria, arrived in the EU. The new asylum and migration management regulation (AMMR) will replace the current Dublin regulation and bring changes to how asylum seekers are processed at EU borders and relocated across Europe.

The Dublin regulation, initially signed in 1990 and revised three times, established rules to determine which member state was responsible for examining an asylum application. However, a coalition of approximately ten states, led by Italy, had blocked the agreement until late Thursday, as they sought concessions for countries receiving large numbers of asylum seekers. Last-minute changes, such as reducing the number of people each state would be accountable for and more lenient rules for returning individuals to non-EU countries, allowed the deal to be finalized.

Under the newly agreed terms, each country will have a specific responsibility for a set number of individuals but will not necessarily have to host them. Countries unwilling to take in irregular migrants and refugees will have the option to assist host countries through equipment, personnel, or financial support (around 20,000 euros per person). Initially, Italy, Greece, and Malta had called for mandatory relocation of migrants from front-line countries.

The reform also introduces an expedited border procedure for individuals deemed unlikely to be granted asylum, preventing them from remaining within the bloc for extended periods. While Poland and Hungary opposed the deal, suggesting that the issue should be discussed by national leaders during their June meeting, they were outvoted by the majority.