New EU Migration Policy Rules Come into Force

On Friday, new European Union rules resulting from a sweeping reform of its migration and asylum system came into force across member states. EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner stated that for the first time, a comprehensive EU-wide system has been established, allowing countries to strengthen border controls.

Migrants entering the EU illegally will now undergo security checks within seven days. Identity documents, as well as biometric data – facial photographs and fingerprints – will be entered into a shared database. The aim is to determine who qualifies for accelerated or standard asylum procedures and to identify individuals subject to return to their country of origin or transit.

The new system includes fast-track processing for asylum seekers deemed a security threat or with low chances of obtaining refugee status – for example, nationals of Morocco and Bangladesh, where refusal rates exceed 80%. Their applications will be processed within 12 weeks at centers near the EU's external borders (land borders, ports, airports). Other applicants will follow standard procedures.

To relieve pressure on frontline states like Italy, Greece, and Malta, the reform introduces a solidarity mechanism. Member states must annually take in at least 30,000 asylum seekers originally arriving in other countries, or pay €20,000 per person not accepted. Negotiations were difficult; in the first round in 2025, several states refused to accept anyone under the redistribution mechanism.

The reform also includes a crisis response plan for sudden migration surges, such as the 2015-2016 crisis when over two million asylum seekers arrived. It allows member states to extend detention periods at external borders. The mechanism also covers the so-called instrumentalization of migration, of which Belarus and Russia are regularly accused.

Human rights organizations have criticized the reforms, warning that most migrants, including children, may face detention throughout the application process, and that accelerated procedures could lengthen detention for others. About a dozen countries are still unprepared, lacking the necessary infrastructure or facing issues with the biometric database. Public opinion on migration has become more critical, and EU states are demanding further measures. Lawmakers are urgently considering a new package to speed up deportations of those denied asylum, heightening concerns that humanitarian considerations are being sidelined.