17 Schengen countries call for new legislation on the return of illegal immigrants

Seventeen Schengen countries, including Greece, are calling for a review of the legal framework to ensure a more “effective” return of people who do not have the right to remain in the European Union.

On the eve of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Internal Affairs EU on Thursday 10 October in Luxembourg and the upcoming summit on 17-18 October, where the return of illegal migrants will be high on the agenda, these countries have prepared a discussion document known as “Non-Paper”.

It will be the first meeting of its kind since Germany re-established controls on all its land borders, Hungary threatened to use illegal migrants against Belgium and the Netherlands asked for a waiver clause from EU asylum rules. The issue of migration is also due to be on the agenda for a two-day summit of EU leaders next week.

The rapid developments have raised serious concerns about the viability of the Schengen area and the new pact on migration and asylum, a legislative reform completed in May. The document, prepared by the Netherlands and Austria, was supported by France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Malta, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Croatia and Lithuania, as well as Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

These countries are in favor of creating “new legal framework”which will clearly define the obligations and responsibilities of third-country nationals in respect of whom return decisions are made. They also seek to create a legal framework that takes into account current challenges and developments, reflects the needs of Member States and associated countries, but also takes full account of the flexibility of countries to ensure effective returns, for example by further supporting digitization and simplification of processes.

The new pact includes provisions to bridge the gap between asylum and return procedures, but the non-paper notes that member states want separate legislation to address the issue of deportation. A proposal to reform the 2008 Return Directive has been stuck in the European Parliament since 2019. A group of 17 countries now requires a completely new text.

In the guidelines for her second term, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised “a new common approach to returns with a new legislative framework to speed up and simplify the process, ensure returns are carried out in a dignified manner, digitize case management and ensure mutual recognition of return decisions across Europe.”

It should be emphasized that Greece is extremely concerned about developments in the Middle East, fearing an influx of migrants and refugees, similar to the one that occurred in 2015 during the war in Syria.

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