The European Union has agreed to fast-track asylum applications from nationals of seven countries it intends to designate as “safe countries of origin”: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia.
The move is part of reforms linked to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is due to start applying from 12 June 2026.
Under the political agreement reached between European Parliament negotiators and the Council, applications from the listed countries would be channelled into accelerated procedures, on the presumption that most claims are unlikely to succeed. Applicants would still have their cases examined individually, but they would have to demonstrate why the “safe country” presumption should not apply to them.
The Council said the aim was to enable member states to deal with certain claims “more quickly” and to make return procedures “faster and more effective” for those found not to need protection in the EU. The agreement builds on the 2024 legislative package that overhauls asylum and migration rules across the bloc, following years of division among the 27 member states over responsibility-sharing and border management.
What “safe country of origin” means in practice
The “safe country of origin” concept allows national authorities to apply a special examination system to applications from countries judged, in general, to provide sufficient protection against persecution or serious harm. The Council said member states will be required to use an accelerated procedure for applicants from a country on the EU list, and that processing may take place at the border or in transit zones.
The European Parliament said the EU-level designation will be made according to conditions set out in the Asylum Procedure Regulation, and that the list could be expanded later using the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure. In parallel, member states would retain the option to designate additional “safe” countries at national level, subject to limits where the EU has suspended a country’s designation.
The Council characterised the seven-country list as the first EU-wide list of safe countries of origin, intended to reduce disparities between national approaches and shorten procedures for claims with low prospects of success.
Timeline and next steps
The agreement announced on 18 December 2025 is provisional and must still be confirmed by both institutions before formal adoption. The Council said the EU list of safe countries of origin will begin to apply at the same time as the asylum procedure regulation, on 12 June 2026.
The European Parliament also set out safeguards intended to address changing conditions in listed countries. It said the European Commission will monitor the situation in the countries on the list and in EU candidate countries, and may temporarily decide that a country is not safe. That suspension could apply to an entire country, to parts of its territory, or to identifiable categories of people if, for example, violence is geographically limited.
Candidate countries and exceptions
Beyond the seven named countries, the agreement would also treat EU accession candidate countries as safe countries of origin for their own nationals, unless specified exceptions apply. The Council listed exceptions including an international or internal armed conflict, restrictive measures affecting fundamental rights and freedoms, or an EU-wide asylum recognition rate above 20 per cent for nationals of the candidate country.
Kosovo’s inclusion is accompanied by the EU’s standard caveat that the designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is aligned with relevant UN and international court references, according to the Council.
Political context and reactions
The announcement, made on International Migrants’ Day, prompted criticism from some humanitarian organisations and lawmakers. In the Associated Press report, Amnesty International’s EU advocate described the measures as an attempt to avoid international legal obligations, while the Danish Refugee Council said it was concerned that accelerated procedures could fail to protect people with specific risk profiles, including activists, journalists and marginalised groups.
The AP account also reported warnings from French MEP Mélissa Camara, who linked the “safe country” approach to broader debates about return arrangements outside the EU, including “return hubs” in third countries. Supporters, including an Italian MEP from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, argued that clearer definitions of safe and unsafe countries would reduce legal uncertainty and support more enforceable border and return policies.
The Council’s press release quoted Denmark’s immigration minister, Rasmus Stoklund, as saying the EU receives “tens of thousands” of applicants from countries considered generally safe and that the list should support faster procedures and returns for those without a protection need.
What happens next
Between now and June 2026, the focus will shift to the formal legislative steps and to preparations in national asylum systems for accelerated processing. The agreement’s monitoring and suspension provisions indicate that the Commission will be expected to track country conditions closely, while national courts may still scrutinise how the presumption of safety is applied in individual cases.
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