European Union Migration and Asylum Pact

Migration and Asylum Pact is a comprehensive set of rules established at the European Union (EU) level to regulate the fields of migration and asylum and create a common asylum system.^【1】 The Pact consists of ten binding legislative acts adopted in 2024 that redefine the EU’s border management, the assessment of asylum applications, and the sharing of responsibilities among member states.^【2】 European Commission proposed the Pact in September 2020, and it was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024 and by the EU Council on 14 May 2024.^【3】

The legal instruments of the reform entered into force on 11 June 2024 and began to be applied across all member states on 12 June 2026, following a two-year transition period.^【4】

Cooperation on migration policy within the European Union initially focused on facilitating the mobility of workers; it evolved into an area where common decisions could be made, beginning with cooperation in justice and home affairs in the 1970s. Efforts to establish the Schengen Area initially developed outside the EU framework and were later incorporated into the EU’s legal structure.

Steps toward establishing a common migration and asylum policy began in the 1990s. The issue of migration and asylum in the EU was first regulated by the Dublin Convention, signed in 1990; under this framework, refugees were required to apply for asylum in their first country of arrival.^【5】 The foundations of the Migration and Asylum Pact were laid following the migration crisis experienced by the EU in 2015, which saw over one million people reach Europe. During the crisis, disagreements emerged among member states regarding the distribution of asylum seekers, the protection of external borders, and which country should be responsible for processing asylum applications. In response to increasing irregular migration and asylum applications, a new system was proposed. The Migration and Asylum Pact emerged from these proposals.

The reforms under the Pact were proposed by the European Commission (Commissioner Ylva Johansson) on 23 September 2020. The directives on reception conditions, qualification criteria, and the EU resettlement framework were first proposed in 2016. A general agreement between the EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament was reached on 20 December 2023, with detailed negotiations finalized in January and February 2024. The European Parliament adopted the Pact on 10 April 2024.

Following the completion of parliamentary procedures, the proposed changes were adopted by the EU Council on 14 May 2024. The Council adopted a total of ten legislative acts reforming the entire EU framework for asylum and migration management.

The Pact is structured around ten new or revised regulations aimed at harmonizing procedures, timeframes for completion, and criteria for granting refugee status across the EU. The main legislative acts adopted under the Pact are as follows:

• Screening Regulation: Regulates the referral of irregular migrants and asylum seekers at EU external borders to the relevant procedures and ensures uniform identification, security, vulnerability, and health checks.
• Asylum Procedure Regulation: Organizes the EU asylum procedure and introduces a mandatory border procedure in specific circumstances.
• Return Procedures Regulation: Regulates the return of individuals whose applications are rejected under the border procedure.
• Asylum and Migration Management Regulation: Determines which member state is responsible for assessing an international protection application and introduces for the first time a fair sharing of responsibilities among member states.
• Eurodac Regulation: Enables the collection of more comprehensive biometric data on various categories of migrants, including those applying for international protection and those entering irregularly.
• Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation: Allows member states to be exempted from certain rules and to request enhanced solidarity from other countries in situations of mass arrivals or instrumentalization.
• Qualification Regulation: Establishes uniform criteria for granting international protection.
• Reception Conditions Directive: Sets out uniform standards for the reception of asylum seekers.
• Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework Regulation: Establishes common rules for resettlement and humanitarian admission, thereby regulating legal and safe pathways to the EU.^【6】

In addition to these measures, the legislative proposals forming the Pact were built upon existing agreements reached during legislative activities between 2016 and 2017.

The European Commission groups the main components of the Pact under four policy areas.

This area encompasses screening procedures, the Eurodac asylum and migration database, border procedures, returns, and regulations concerning crisis situations and instrumentalization. The Screening Regulation foresees the application of common standards for health, identity, and security checks across the EU, with these checks to be completed within seven days, or within three days if the person is identified within EU territory. Amendments to the Eurodac Regulation require the registration of applicants rather than applications, and include the addition of facial images and identity data alongside fingerprints. The minimum age for data collection for children has been lowered from 14 to 6.

This area includes rules on asylum criteria, rights of applicants, EU standards for refugee status, and procedural provisions. The mandatory border procedure applies to specific groups of applicants, such as those from countries with low recognition rates. Assessments of admissibility and merits under this procedure are carried out at EU external borders. Individuals subject to the border procedure are not considered to have entered EU territory until the process is concluded. The maximum duration for these procedures is set at 12 weeks, with implementation capacity linked to the reception capacity of member states.

This area includes the solidarity framework, operational and financial support mechanisms, rules for determining which member state is responsible for an asylum application, and regulations concerning secondary movements.

The solidarity mechanism established under the Pact aims to support member states facing high migration pressure. Member states’ contributions may take the form of resettlement, financial support, or other solidarity measures agreed upon bilaterally with the affected state. The type of contribution is determined by each member state.

New rules define criteria for determining which member state is responsible for an asylum application. These criteria include situations such as the presence of a family member of the applicant in a member state or the lodging of an application in a country different from the first country of entry. Regarding secondary movements, applicants are required to apply for asylum in the member state where they first entered and remain there until responsibility is determined.

This area covers the management of irregular migration flows, combating migrant smuggling, readmission cooperation, and regulations on legal migration channels. Within this framework, the EU Skills Hub has been established to support international recruitment processes.

To ensure the legal instruments of the Pact are ready for implementation by June 2026, the European Commission presented the Joint Implementation Plan on 12 June 2024.

The plan consists of ten building blocks: a common migration and asylum information system (Eurodac); a new system to manage migration at EU external borders; adequate reception standards for applicants; fair, effective, and convergent asylum procedures; effective and fair return procedures; a fair and effective system; operationalization of solidarity; preparedness, contingency planning, and crisis response; new safeguards for asylum seekers and vulnerable persons; and resettlement, inclusion, and integration.

The legal instruments of the Pact entered into force on 11 June 2024 and began to be applied on 12 June 2026. The Commission has adopted three reports to monitor implementation of the Pact; the first progress report was adopted on 11 June 2025 and the second on 11 November 2025.

The Commission has allocated €3 billion to support the implementation of the Pact and to provide temporary protection to Ukrainians. Implementation is carried out in cooperation with the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), eu-LISA, Frontex, Europol, and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

In the Commission’s report of 8 May 2026, it was noted that most member states have made progress in adapting national legislation, establishing mandatory screening and border procedures, and achieving adequate reception capacity. The report also identified the need for further work in areas such as testing and establishing the new Eurodac system, setting up facilities for screening and border procedures, and operationalizing the fundamental rights monitoring mechanism.

The Pact was adopted after lengthy negotiations due to persistent disagreements over the mandatory solidarity mechanism, resettlement quotas, and responsibility sharing. Disputes among EU member states continued after the Pact’s adoption.

International human rights organizations have expressed concern that the new rules may lead to expanded border controls and the prolonged detention of migrants in reception centers for months. They have also warned that exemptions granted to member states under “force majeure” conditions risk violating obligations under refugee law and international human rights law.

Human Rights Watch assessed that the Pact weakens the right to asylum by accelerating the evaluation of protection claims while limiting safeguards in asylum procedures. The same organization noted that the Pact includes some positive reforms in favor of children, such as the mandatory use of multidisciplinary age assessments, the expansion of the definition of family to include those formed during migration journeys, and the granting of the right to work to adult asylum seekers after a maximum of six months.

The mandatory solidarity mechanism, which requires the sharing of asylum seekers among member states, has faced objections from some member states. These countries argue that implementation could reduce national control over migration policies, impose additional financial burdens, and incentivize irregular migration. According to Human Rights Watch, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic have stated they will not participate in resettlement schemes.^【7】