EU lawmakers have taken a major step toward overhauling the bloc’s migration system, approving the first-ever Union-wide list of safe countries of origin—a move supporters say will finally allow Europe to deliver faster asylum decisions and far more effective returns.
The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee backed the measure on Wednesday after a vote that saw a strengthened right-wing majority push the file through despite vocal opposition from the Left. In the end, the committee voted to adopt the proposal by a clear margin. The draft list includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco and Tunisia.
Under the proposal, EU candidate countries would also be presumed safe unless specific circumstances, such as widespread violence or armed conflict, justify otherwise. MEPs added that triggering temporary protection mechanisms should automatically suspend a candidate country’s ‘safe’ status.
Lawmakers said the Commission must closely track developments in countries on the list and move quickly to suspend designations if the situation deteriorates, either nationwide or in specific regions.
Both EU and national safe country lists may be applied even before the new EU asylum legislation enters into force in June 2026, and member states would retain the option to name additional safe countries at national level, except those removed from the EU list.
The conservative ECR group welcomed the vote. Its leader, Nicola Procaccini, said: “Today we reached an important turning point on repatriation.”
Italian ECR MEP Alessandro Ciriani added: “This proposal represents a crucial step towards providing the Union with clearer, more coherent and genuinely enforceable rules for managing migration flows.”
The centre-right EPP also described the development as a “major step forward in the EU’s fight against illegal migration.”
The decision to open negotiations with the Council is expected to be announced during the upcoming plenary session. If endorsed by Parliament, trilogue talks on the final shape of the legislation can begin.
