EU list of safe countries of origin for asylum seekers and new rules for classifying safe third countries

The EU Parliament has adopted new regulations in EU asylum law, which are intended to introduce a common list of safe countries of origin for the first time and further develop the concept of safe third countries. In this way, asylum procedures should be made more efficient and uniform and central elements of the asylum and migration package should be applicable before it fully comes into force in 2026. In the future, asylum applications from people from Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia will be examined more quickly. EU accession candidates are also generally considered safe countries of origin, provided there are no serious reasons such as armed conflicts or systematic human rights violations. The classification should be based on objective, Union-wide criteria and technical analyzes by the EU Asylum Agency. In addition, the list can be suspended or adjusted if conditions change. In addition, the rules on safe third countries are being clarified in order to avoid lengthy procedures and inconsistent practice. Asylum applications may in future be considered inadmissible if applicants have entered via a non-EU country that is classified as safe or can be transferred there. According to the proposal, these measures are intended to strengthen the EU's ability to act, limit possible abuse of the asylum system and at the same time fully protect the protection of fundamental rights and the individual right to asylum. Attention: The voting results shown on the right only reflect the voting behavior of the 96 German MEPs and not that of all 720 MEPs. Note: The votes on safe countries of origin and third countries took place separately. You can see the voting results on the common EU list of safe countries of origin here. The proposal for a regulation establishing a list of safe countries of origin was adopted overall with 408 votes in favour, 184 against and 60 abstentions. Of the German MEPs, 50 voted for and 33 against. There were seven abstentions. The proposal for a regulation applying the "safe third country" concept was also adopted with 396 votes in favour, 226 against and 30 abstentions.

Vote breakdown