Representatives of the European Parliament and the member states have agreed on the text of the final return regulation, which is intended to unblock and unify the procedure for expelling persons who have no legal grounds for staying on the territory of the union.
The innovations are provided for by a general agreement reached by representatives of the European Parliament and the governments of the participating countries during long consultations. Official information about the successful completion of this stage of negotiations was distributed by the Cyprus Representation, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU.
Now, the Parliament and the EU states must approve this document in the final reading so that the new deportation rules officially enter into force. Within the framework of the European legislative process, the procedure for such approval is a standard legal formality that does not involve introducing discussions or new substantial amendments.
Return Centers for Persons Whose Asylum Applications Have Been Rejected
Those asylum seekers who have received an official refusal but cannot be immediately returned to their countries of direct origin will be sent to special return centers located outside the external borders of the European Union. Such complex legal situations arise, for example, if the migrant’s homeland refuses to accept its citizens back or if the federal government of Germany does not maintain diplomatic relations with the state in question.
At the current stage of discussion, the question remains open as to exactly which states outside the EU such centers can be built and certified in. The main goal of this initiative is to make it possible to carry out a larger number of deportations within a short timeframe and thereby significantly reduce the share of illegal migrants who remain on the territory of the EU without legal grounds. At the same time, the regulation establishes strict restrictions; for instance, unaccompanied minors who arrived without adults will not be subject to deportation to third countries. With regard to families with children, this forced option is fully retained.
Several EU Countries Are Seeking Partner States
According to the developed plans, an mandatory legal condition for carrying out a deportation will be the existence of a bilateral agreement with a third country. Such a state will accept foreign citizens and accommodate them on its sovereign territory, receiving in return financial support from the budget of the European Union or substantial preferences in the issuance of Schengen visas for its citizens.
Germany, together with some other EU states, is currently already conducting preliminary negotiations on concluding specialized agreements with potential partners who are ready to organize such return centers on their territory. Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt has previously spoken out repeatedly in support of the project to create such pivotal distribution hubs, calling them a key element of control over migration flows.
The Italian Model of Cooperation with Albania Has Reached the European Court of Justice
Prior to the adoption of the current agreement, a single pan-European legal framework for such decisions involving third countries did not exist, which forced individual states to act separately. In particular, Italy concluded a direct bilateral agreement with Albania to transfer to its territory both the detention prior to deportation and the legal procedures themselves for reviewing asylum requests. Due to lawsuits filed by human rights activists, this model became the subject of a detailed review in the European Court of Justice, and a final ruling on this precedent has not yet been issued.
Meanwhile, a similar attempt by the United Kingdom to transfer application review procedures to third countries using the so-called “Rwanda Model” ended in complete failure. London planned to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, where they were to remain even in the event of subsequently receiving protection status after the verification of documents. Despite massive state expenditures, amounting to about 830 million euros, the plan could not be implemented due to blocking decisions by various judicial instances. A full-fledged legal basis for transferring the entire procedure for reviewing asylum requests to third countries, which concerns not only deportation but also primary filtering, was approved in the European Union at the end of last year.
Possible Cancellation of Benefit Payments at the Pan-European Level
The agreed document also determines in detail exactly how migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected are obliged to assist in the process of their own deportation if they want to avoid preventive arrest. In case of evasion of cooperation, they face a substantial reduction or complete cancellation of maintenance payments throughout the EU territory, as well as the immediate seizure of existing travel documents.
In addition, the new rules permit lawful detention prior to deportation if authorized officials in the member states identify a risk of the migrant absconding or a direct threat to national security. The permissible period of detention under the new rules increases significantly. According to information from circles close to the negotiation process, the maximum period of isolation will be 24 months, with the possibility of extension for another 6 months in exceptional cases.
Growth in the Number of Deportations and Decrease in the Number of Asylum Requests
The number of actual deportations in the European Union over the past year demonstrated an upward dynamic. According to official data from the European Commission, in 2025, about 28 percent of migrants legally obliged to leave the EU were successfully returned. At the same time, the total number of newly submitted applications for asylum in the EU has recently been continuously declining.
In Germany in May, according to statistical data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, this figure was at its lowest level since 2020, when entry into the country was practically impossible due to tight restrictions against the background of the coronavirus pandemic. The EU external border security agency Frontex has also recently recorded a noticeable decrease in the number of cases of illegal crossing of the land and sea borders of the European Union.
What the “Rwanda Model” Visualizes
The so-called “Rwanda Model” provides for the transfer of application review procedures for asylum to third countries outside the European Union. Final decisions on refugee requests are to be made there under the declared compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
This model is based on a special law adopted at one time in the UK. This regulatory act was supposed to allow for the deportation of people who entered the country illegally to East African Rwanda without prior consideration of their asylum applications on the merits and regardless of their citizenship. In Rwanda, they planned to accommodate them in refugee camps where they could file a new application, while the possibility of returning to the UK was completely excluded. Rwanda received large financial funds from the British side in exchange.
In practice, not a single deportation was carried out under this program: the very first repatriation flight was blocked by the European Court of Human Rights. The Supreme Court of Appeal of England and Wales also ruled that deportation to Rwanda was unlawful because this country could not be considered a safe third country. The British government appealed this decision for a long time; however, in November 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed the verdict of the appellate instance, once again recognizing this practice as unlawful.
In April 2024, the UK Parliament made another attempt and passed the Safety of Rwanda Act, by which British lawmakers directly declared Rwanda a safe country. Nevertheless, after the 2024 general parliamentary elections and the victory of the Labour Party, the implementation of the Rwanda Program was definitively halted in July 2024. The Safety of Rwanda Act was repealed, and all payments to the African side were stopped.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the coordination of the new return regulation marks the transition of the EU to a pragmatic model of managing migration processes. The desire to create deportation centers in third countries indicates Brussels’ readiness to use international financial and visa levers to solve internal social problems. The success of implementing these innovations will depend on the stability of agreements with potential partner states and the outcome of ongoing judicial proceedings, which will determine the exact boundaries of the application of new coercive measures.
