Fewer asylum seekers than expected to be relocated in the EU in 2026

EU member states agreed on Monday on the migration “Solidarity Pool” for 2026, which consists of 21,000 relocations of asylum seekers and €420 million in financial contributions for 2026. This is below the threshold set by the European Commission and would reduce the level of solidarity provided to Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, as previously reported by Euronews.

According to the EU’s Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, each year the Commission should propose that the following year at least 30,000 people have to be relocated across the EU from countries under migratory pressure and €600 million in financial contributions have to be disbursed by the rest of the member states.

But EU Home Affairs Ministers who had gathered in Brussels on Monday considered that the solidarity needs for 2026 would be less, as the first migration management cycle will be implemented from June 2026, covering just half of the year.

The decision was taken with a “vast majority” of countries in favour of it, according to EU sources.

EU countries could contribute to the solidarity pool by relocations, financial contributions or “alternative solidarity measures,” which means providing staff to states under pressure or helping them build reception centres.

Each country is assigned a quota of support based on its population and GDP and could decide which type of measure it offers, including a combination of different ones.

Czechia, Estonia, Croatia, Austria and Poland were granted a total or partial exemption from their quotas. These countries, including Bulgaria, had been classified as “facing a significant migratory situation” and were therefore allowed to request an exemption, which was approved by the other member states.

The specific pledges made by each state are still kept secret until the final legal adoption of the “solidarity pool,” set for the 16th December. According to EU sources, however, most of the countries opted for financial contributions.

Less solidarity for frontline countries

The solidarity to Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus will be cut by almost one-third, compared to the original plan.

The Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska reacted, claiming that the outcome strays from the general agreement on migration reached in 2023 and called on the EU to uphold “the balance between solidarity and responsibility.”

“The solidarity quota cannot become a haggling over numbers,” he said.

It has not yet been decided how the 21,000 migrants to be relocated will be chosen, nor how many will come from each of the four countries “under migratory pressure.”

If the general target of 21,000 relocations is not matched by the countries’ pledges, a mechanism called “responsibility offset” will kick in.

Member states will be obliged to take care of the asylum seekers they are hosting, but who should have asked for asylum in their first EU country of arrival, until the missing relocations are compensated.

Germany is meant to widely resort to this mechanism, as previously reportedby Euronews.

According to EU sources, the German government signed a memorandum with Greece, agreeing that it will not send back any asylum seekers to Greece in exchange for the quota it should take in from Greece in 2026.

A similar agreement was struck with Italy, the Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told journalists.

“Italy and Germany agreed to reset the number of transfers [under the current rules] until the new Asylum and Migration Pact comes into force [June 2026],” he said.

EU to allow deportations of migrants to third countries

During their meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU Home Affairs Ministers also approved three migration-related laws that have now to be negotiated with the European Parliament.

The so-called “return regulation” aims to speed up the expulsion of irregular migrants and increase the rate of enforced return orders, which is now at around 20%.

It would allow EU member states to build return hubs in non-EU countries, and return irregular migrants even in countries unrelated to their origin.

The change of the “third safe country” concept will expand the circumstances under which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible, enabling EU states to deport asylum seekers to third countries with which they have no link.

The Council also approved the first list of “safe countries of origin” for the purposes of asylum, which includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia, plus all the candidate countries to the EU except Ukraine.

Migrants who are nationals of one of these countries will still have the right to apply for asylum in the EU, but their applications will be assessed in fast-track procedures.