Inadmissible asylum applications

Priority question for written answer P-002904/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Marieke Ehlers (PfE)

Asylum seekers are generally expected to apply for protection in the first safe country they enter. It is therefore essential to understand to what extent the EU and its Member States are enforcing this principle in practice. Under the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees and EU asylum law, Member States may reject or declare inadmissible an asylum application if the applicant has transited through a safe third country where protection could have been sought. This principle is intended to prevent 'asylum shopping' and to uphold the integrity of the Common European Asylum System.

• 1.Can the Commission confirm whether any Member States have refused to deal with the substantive elements of asylum claims and have declared them inadmissible on the basis that the applicant transited through a safe third country?
• 2.Can the Commission confirm whether any such applicants have subsequently been effectively returned to those safe third countries?
• 3.Given the reportedly limited number of effective returns to safe third countries, what obstacles - legal, diplomatic or operational - does the Commission identify as the main barriers to such returns, and what steps is it taking to strengthen the enforceability of inadmissibility decisions under the safe third country principle?

Submitted: 16.7.2025