The countries of the European Union (EU) agreed yesterday afternoon to shift to the right in their migration policies, expected in view of the previous negotiations but no less worrying for the defense of human rights. The Twenty-seven have decided to support the Member States under greatest migratory pressure in 2026 with some 21,000 migrant relocations and 420 million euros of financial assistance, a lower quota than what Brussels had proposed and defended, that is, 30,000 relocations and 600 million. Our country has remained in the minority.
He (that is, the EU countries) specified in a statement that this aid takes into account the fact that the first year of the migration management cycle “will begin to be implemented from June 12, 2026”, when the full application of the migration pact will begin.
“The solidarity contingent cannot become a haggling over figures,” lamented the Spanish Minister of the Interior, during the Council in which the decision was made, who said that the needs of the Member States under migratory pressure must be “identified and addressed in the best way.”
The figures on relocations, financial aid or other alternative measures agreed upon yesterday are a reference and this Monday the exact details were not revealed nor how much each country will contribute, data that is currently confidential, according to diplomatic sources. The same sources stated that there is more willingness to help by contributing money than by hosting migrants.
A European Commission coordinator will work with Member States under migration pressure in the coming months to distribute the solidarity fund according to need. The aid will then be channeled through already existing systems and a budget line will be created for the Member States that must be supported.
The centers abroad, the controversy
As agreed, the creation of centers abroad will now be allowed to expel migrants who have received an expulsion order after the rejection of their asylum application, one of the most controversial points. Until now, current regulations mandate that there must be a “significant connection” between the rejected asylum seeker and the country to which they would be returned. That link could be due to nationality, previous residence, or family ties.
However, now the new legal framework eliminates that requirement by clarifying that Member States may consider a country “safe” for a return if the migrant transited through it on their way to Europe, even if they did not stop there.
The other assumption is the existence of a bilateral treaty between the country in which the migrant is located and a third nation.
This is the first European legal basis to create migrant detention centers in third countries, which will operate under bilateral agreements between EU Member States and non-EU third countries, inspired by the Italian-Albanian model.
The idea was also not well received by Grande-Marlaska, who expressed “serious legal, political and economic doubts” about the return centers. In addition, he warned of possible repercussions in a “negative impact” on bilateral relations with key partners in the prevention of irregular migration at origin.
The regulation approved by the Council of the EU establishes the conditions for the signing of agreements or conventions to create return centers in third countries. For example, they may only settle in a nation where international human rights standards and the principles of international law are respected.
Families and unaccompanied minors cannot be sent to these centers. In addition, the EU will establish a monitoring mechanism to monitor possible violations of fundamental rights, although the details of these checks are not yet defined. “These new EU migration laws aim to establish faster and more effective asylum procedures for those who should not receive protection within the EU,” the Council said.
In May 2025, he called European efforts to reform the safe third country concept “a cynical attempt to degrade rights and offload asylum responsibilities.” Sundberg Diez, the entity’s representative to the EU on migration and asylum issues, said that the community alliance “should invest in its own asylum systems and allow those who have requested asylum to begin to rebuild their lives, instead of dedicating enormous time and resources to offloading their responsibilities in other countries.”
Six months later, the EU has shared the first list of countries it considers “safe”, which includes Colombia, Morocco, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kosovo and Tunisia.
Asylum seekers who appeal a decision of inadmissibility based on the safe third country concept will no longer have an automatic right to remain in the EU for the duration of the process, although they will still be able to apply to a court.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Elma Saiz, head of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, on December 8, 2025, at the meeting on asylum and migration, in Brussels.
Annual solidarity contingent
The Council today reached a political agreement on the so-called “annual solidarity quota”, a common assistance fund that constitutes one of the main elements of the .
It is planned to alleviate the burden of the countries where the majority of migrants arrive, Spain among them, and reduce long-term migratory pressure in all Member States. The Spanish minister said upon his arrival that Spain was going to abstain in the contingent vote.
This common solidarity fund provides for three types of measures: relocations, financial contributions and alternative solidarity measures. Each Member State decides what type of solidarity measure it promises, including the possibility of committing a combination of different measures.
Last November the European Commission concluded, after evaluating a series of criteria, that Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Italy are under migratory pressure and can benefit from the solidarity measures of the common fund.
For its part, it identified Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Poland as countries that face a significant migration situation due to the migratory pressure accumulated in previous years and said that they had the possibility of requesting a total or partial deduction of their contributions to the common solidarity fund.
All of them, except Bulgaria, have asked to be exempt from these contributions with a view to 2026, although one of them only wants a partial reduction. Bulgaria could still request to be exempt in the future but diplomatic sources considered this unlikely to happen.
Following this Monday’s political agreement on the common solidarity fund, the Council will have to formally adopt the implementing decision, which will happen before December 31, 2025. The solidarity mechanism is provided for in the Regulation on Asylum and Migration Management, which is one of the elements of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
