Safe third country: Council and European Parliament agree on new EU law restricting admissibility of asylum claims 01:50 The Council of the EU and the European Parliament[...]

Today, the Danish presidency of the Council of the EU and European Parliament negotiators reached a provisional agreement on EU legislation that revises the safe third country concept and will expand the circumstances under which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissable.

The agreement between Council and European Parliament negotiators on the application of the safe third country concept shows the determination of EU legislators to make the EU's asylum system more efficient and robust.

The safe third country concept allows EU member states to reject an asylum application as inadmissible (i.e. without examining its substance) when asylum seekers could have sought and, if eligible, received international protection in a non-EU country that is considered safe for them.

According to the updated rules, member states will be able to apply the safe third country concept on the basis of the following three options:

• there is a 'connection' between the asylum seeker and the third county. However, a connection will no longer be a mandatory criterion for using the safe third country concept
• the applicant has transited through the third country before reaching the EU
• there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country which ensures that a person's asylum request will be examined in the non-EU country in question.

The Council and the European Parliament agreed to follow the Council's approach that the safe third country concept cannot be applied on the basis of an agreement or arrangement where unaccompanied minors are concerned.

An applicant who appeals against an inadmissibility decision based on the safe third country concept will no longer have an automatic right to remain in the EU for the duration of the appeal process, while the applicant's right to request a court for the right to remain stays in place.

Next steps

Today's agreement between the Council and the European Parliament is provisional and has to be confirmed by both institutions before official adoption in the Council and the European Parliament.

The amendments to the safe third country concept will begin to apply on the same day as the asylum procedures regulation, on 12 June 2026, and will be directly applicable in member states.

Background

The safe third country concept is already now part of the EU asylum and migration rulebook. Based on a review clause agreed under the Pact, the Commission had to review the current rules by June 2025 and table targeted amendments as appropriate.

• Migration and asylum (background information)
• EU migration and asylum policy (background information)