JAKARTA - European Union negotiators returned to talks in Brussels on 21 May after failing to reach agreement on a proposed return regulation that could allow the bloc to send some rejected asylum seekers to so-called return hubs outside EU territory, AFP reported in a May 21 dispatch.
The talks bring together European Parliament and member-state negotiators at a late stage of the legislative process. AFP, citing EU sources, said only a few issues remained unresolved, mainly the implementation timeline. The talks broke off on 20 May, with negotiators due to reconvene on Thursday morning.
The proposal comes from the European Commission’s March 11, 2025 plan for a Common European System for Returns. It would create a European return order, make member states recognise certain return decisions issued elsewhere in the bloc, and set obligations for non-EU nationals who receive a return decision.
EU migration officials say the current system fails to remove most people ordered to leave. Eurostat said in a March 31 update that EU countries issued 117,545 orders to leave to non-EU citizens in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the same period, 33,860 people were returned to countries outside the EU after receiving such an order.
Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner previously said in the Commission’s March 11, 2025 release that the proposal was meant to close that gap. “With the new European return system, we will ensure that those who have no right to stay in the EU are actually returned,” Brunner said.
Return hubs are the most contentious part of the file. The Council, in its December 8, 2025 position, said member states could make agreements with third countries to host people subject to return decisions. The European Parliament’s 26 March negotiating mandate allows such arrangements but excludes unaccompanied minors.
AFP reported that the Commission said this month it had invited Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan. In its official Asia and the Pacific programme addendum, the EU says Afghanistan’s humanitarian and socio-economic crisis could push more people to leave and affect efforts against trafficking and irregular migration.
The same EU document links Afghanistan’s crisis to Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia, including risks tied to displacement, human trafficking and irregular migration.
