- On 10 December 2025, the European Commission is hosting the 2025 International Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling in Brussels, politico reports. Over 80 delegations from EU agencies, partner countries and international organisations are meeting to strengthen coordination and cooperation against migrant smuggling. The delegations plan to approve a joint declaration reiterating their commitment to enhance cooperation along migration routes and to address the digital aspects of smuggling, including removing digital ads used to recruit migrants and interrupting illegal payment systems.
- Simultaneously, the Council of Europe is organising a gathering on 10 December 2025 in Strasbourg to counter attacks on the European Convention on Human Rights by leaders facing pressure over migration policies, such as Keir Starmer and Mette Frederiksen. Delegations from around 40 of the 46 Council of Europe members are expected, including the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy. The aim is to challenge claims that the ECHR is blocking governments from taking action on migration, including returns. The objective is to begin working on a political declaration that to be adopted in Moldova in May.
- On 8 December 2025, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council agreed on a common general approach on three EU legislative texts related to returns within the Schengen area. The Danish Presidency succeeded in reaching a general approach among Member States on the regulation on return, as well as on the European list of ‘safe’ countries of origin and on the regulation on the application of the concept of ‘safe’ third countries.
- On 4 December 2025, euobserver published an article concerning a new clause in the return regulation allowing law enforcement agencies to ‘search homes or other relevant premises’ and seize the personal belongings of individuals subject to a deportation order. This provision, inserted as ‘Article 23a,’ was made available to the media. Interior ministers will debate this provision on 8 December 2025 at their meeting at the Council of the EU.
- On 1 December 2025, the EU adopted a proposal to create a direct link between trade benefits and the rate of readmission of third-country nationals who are subject to an expulsion order from a Member State. Politico had access to an EU document stating that ‘in the event of serious and systematic breaches of the international obligation to readmit nationals of a beneficiary country, preferential arrangements […] may be temporarily withdrawn, in whole or in part, for products originating in that beneficiary country, where the Commission considers that there is a persistent lack of cooperation on readmission.’ These preferential arrangements apply to the least economically developed countries, allowing them to export their goods to the single market at preferential tariff rates. This reform will come into force on 1 January 2027.
- On 28 November 2025, the EU launched the Mediterranean Pact in Barcelona, which aims to forge new ties with countries in the region in order to stem ‘irregular immigration’. However, according to EuObserver, the launch of the Pact has been met with a lukewarm response. Some Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Israel and Algeria) sent ‘low-level’ representatives, raising questions about their commitment to implementing the Pact. According to the media outlet, the Pact’s objective is to create professional opportunities for young people so that they do not feel the need to emigrate.
- According to Euobserver, European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has criticised the European Commission for its misuse of the concept of ‘urgency’ following an investigation into various proposed texts. The investigation, published on 27 November 2025, reportedly showed how the Commission bypasses various steps necessary for the creation of legislation, such as impact assessments and public consultations. Two of the proposed laws investigated concerned the fight against migrant smuggling dating back to November 2023. The Commission justified this on the grounds of security urgency, and none of the laws were subject to an impact assessment.
- On 20 November 2025, Statewatch published an analysis of the implications of the €30 million in aid granted by the European Union to Senegal. According to the organisation, this aid, granted in October 2024, is intended to strengthen migration control, as part of a strategy to externalise its migration policy to West Africa. The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands has reached a record number of crossings and became the deadliest migration route in 2024. Internal Commission documents show that this money will mainly be used to finance border surveillance, interception at sea and the creation of reception/detention facilities for intercepted migrants. This aid therefore raises concerns about the protection of human rights, in particular the violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the criminalisation of migration.
- On 20 November 2025, Shabana Mahmood, the UK Home Secretary, unveiled a comprehensive reform of the British asylum system. According to Euobserver, this reform seeks to reinterpret the case law of the ECHR. Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights are significantly restricted. Article 3 concerns the prohibition of returning a person to a place where there is a risk of inhuman treatment. For the United Kingdom, this concept is too protective and prevents the effective expulsion of people from its territory. Article 8 concerns the protection of family life, and the country wishes to restrict the concept of “family” in order to facilitate expulsions. The United Kingdom’s desire to encourage the Court to review its interpretation of the Convention is shared by other Member States. Denmark, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have published an open letter to the Court sharing the same objectives.
- The EU is engaging in informal discussions with the Taliban regime to repatriate Afghan refugees to their country of origin. These discussions come ‘following pressure from 20 European countries to return rejected Afghan asylum seekers,’ Euronews reported in an article published on 19 November 2025. However, Kanni Wignaraja, director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Asia and the Pacific, says that ‘there is a gap between international calls for the return of people to Afghanistan and the capacity of Afghan communities to receive them’. According to the UN agency, approximately 4.5 million Afghans have returned to their country of origin, mainly from Iran and Pakistan.
- On 10 November 2025, the European Commission published its first annual cycle on migration management. The aim of this cycle is to provide an overview of migration by country within the EU and to enable solidarity measures to be organised between Member States. According to Euobserver, the initial results have been divided into three categories: ‘This document outlines the need for assistance, the actors who should provide it, and those who have already indicated that they will do everything in their power to avoid both.’ Hungary and Poland have already announced that they do not wish to participate in the European Solidarity Fund, refusing to accept any relocation of asylum seekers and refusing to pay the penalties for their refusal. This solidarity fund is expected to come into force next summer.
- According to an article published by Euractiv on 27 November 2025, Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, stated that the Commission would facilitate but not initiate the creation of return hubs outside the EU. For Magnus Brunner, ‘Negotiating return platforms is not the role of the Commission’, so it is up to Member States to conclude these agreements.
- On 5 November 2025, the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee approved the strengthening of Europol’s powers in the collection, processing and sharing of personal data. This data (including biometric data) will be used for the purpose of “combating smuggling networks”. As reported by InfoMigrants, this data may be shared with third countries.
- On 5 November 2025, the European Parliament debated a report recommending that migration management be made a condition for development aid. According to Chris Jones, executive director of Statewatch, ‘this is a further step towards turning EU aid into a bargaining chip for border control’. According to Statewatch, this trend is also reflected in the EU’s budget proposals for 2028-2034, with the creation of a clause suspending all financial support if a third country does not cooperate in readmitting its nationals after a decision to expel them from the EU.
