An employee inspects newly created European Union and Union flags at the factory of Flying Colours Flagmakers Ltd in Knaresborough, northern England. Photo: AFP
European Union leaders have agreed on tougher rules to make it easier to expel asylum‑seekers whose applications are denied, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. The measures respond to growing concern across Europe over rising irregular immigration, a hot‑button issue in several member states. “It is a European challenge that requires a European response,” the leaders declared in a final document concluding a 16‑hour summit that also addressed other topics.
The low number of failed asylum‑seekers being returned to their home countries is a central preoccupation for the EU. The bloc already hosts millions of refugees from conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, while also receiving asylum claims from citizens of comparatively safer countries such as Bangladesh, Turkey and Tunisia, many of whom are deemed economic migrants ineligible for asylum.
Von der Leyen said “pilot projects” involving the EU’s border patrol, asylum and police cooperation agencies will aim to establish “fast and fair asylum procedures” at the bloc’s external borders. The summit document called on the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds” to reinforce those borders with protection capabilities, infrastructure, surveillance means—including aerial surveillance—and equipment.
The decision follows pressure from some EU countries, notably Austria, for the Commission to fund reinforced fences designed to keep irregular migrants from crossing from neighboring non‑EU nations such as Turkey. While von der Leyen has repeatedly stated that EU funds will not pay for fences, officials noted that financing cameras, watchtowers and other infrastructure would free national budgets for fence construction.
The summit also reached an agreement on a principle allowing one EU country to use a court decision from another member state to return an irregular migrant to their home country, aiming to curb “asylum shopping” where migrants apply in a different country after being rejected elsewhere. Additionally, EU leaders agreed to increase the use of “safe‑country” concepts, paving the way for the bloc to formulate a common list, von der Leyen said.
AFP
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