In Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted two texts that fundamentally alter asylum law in the European Union. Led by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group and driven by the momentum generated by Giorgia MeloniThis reform introduces a European list of "safe countries," facilitates the expedited processing of applications, and paves the way for faster returns, including to third countries deemed reliable. It represents a clear break with decades of a fragmented approach among member states.
For Marion Maréchal, a member of the ECR group present in the chamber, "this is a historic victory." She welcomed six concrete advances: the harmonization of the list of safe countries at the European level while allowing member states the possibility of expanding it, the drastic simplification of appeals, the examination of applications directly at the borders, the obligation for applicants to provide proof of alleged persecution, and the possibility of deportation after rejection, even in the event of an appeal. These procedural obstacles, she argued, had paralyzed national policies for years.
A political shift at the heart of the Union European
The vote, secured through an alliance between the right and conservatives, marks a shift in the center of European political gravity on the issue of migration. Where Italy had encountered legal obstacles in attempting to outsource certain procedures, the European framework now secures these practices. Member states will be able to process applications more quickly from countries deemed safe, such as Morocco, Tunisia, India, Bangladesh, and Egypt, and organize returns more effectively.
The left and environmentalists denounce a "worrying turn" and a "dehumanization" of the right to asylum. But for the text's proponents, the real issue lies elsewhere: restoring the credibility of an overburdened system, whose slowness fueled abuses and undermined public acceptance of asylum. In Strasbourg, the Meloni and ECR line has thus just crossed a decisive threshold, transforming a political orientation into a European standard.
