Derogation for Bulgaria from the requirement to receive relocated migrants

Priority question for written answer P-000804/2026/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Rada Laykova (ESN), Petar Volgin (ESN), Ivaylo Valchev (ECR)

In mid-December last year, an article appeared in the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung entitled 'EU-Asylreform: Erstmal reinen Tisch machen mit den Dublin-Fällen' ('EU asylum reform: first clear the decks of all the Dublin cases'[1]), according to which Bulgaria had been offered a release from its obligations under the mandatory solidarity mechanism provided for in the legal acts of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, but that Bulgaria's representatives had rejected the derogation proposed. By doing this, Bulgaria has effectively committed itself to receiving and accommodating migrants relocated from other Member States. In direct connection with this comes the recent announcement by the State Agency for Refugees that Bulgaria will build two new closed-controlled migrant centres by the end of this year and the beginning of next year.

We have the following questions for the Commission in this regard:

• 1.What was the precise reason given by the specific official representative/s of Bulgaria for rejecting the aforementioned proposed derogation?
• 2.Will the Commission publish the relevant documents so that the authors of this question can acquaint themselves with this matter in detail?
• 3.Is the aforementioned proposed derogation valid until 3.2.2026 and, if so, for how long after that will it remain valid?

Submitted: 25.2.2026

• [1] https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/eu-asylreform-erstmals-auf-entlastung-von-staaten-an-aussengrenze-verstaendigt-accg-110803088.html.