EU's decade-long migration and asylum policy overhaul takes effect amid concerns over reduced protections

Jun 12, 2026

The EU's new Migration and Asylum Pact, a decade-long overhaul triggered by the 2015 crisis, takes effect. The rules introduce stricter 7-day border screenings, faster deportations, and a solidarity mechanism requiring members to relocate 30,000 asylum-seekers or pay €20,000 per person. However, no member state is fully prepared for implementation, and human rights groups warn the changes undermine protections for asylum seekers.

EU migration pact implementation

▪The previous system required the first EU country a migrant entered to handle their case, placing significant stress on nations like Italy, Greece, and Malta.
▪A major overhaul of EU migration and asylum policy, a decade in the making, entered into force on June 12, 2026.

2015 migration crisis origins

▪The reforms are the EU's response to the 2015 migration crisis, when more than one million people, many fleeing war in Syria, arrived in Europe.
▪The 2015 crisis revealed shortcomings in the bloc's migration policies and its ability to coordinate a response.

Border screening procedures

▪Biometric data, including faces and fingerprints of adults and children as young as 6, will be stored in a new database called Eurodac.
▪Under the new rules, migrants irregularly entering the EU will undergo identity and security screening for up to seven days.

Deportation fast-track processes

▪Asylum-seekers deemed a security risk or from countries with low protection rates will undergo a fast-track rejection process lasting up to 12 weeks.
▪The new pact aims to speed up the return of rejected asylum seekers, automatically issuing return orders when an application is rejected.

Solidarity pool relocation targets

▪A new solidarity mechanism requires EU members to accept relocated asylum-seekers or provide financial support of €20,000 per person to frontline countries.
▪At least 30,000 asylum-seekers per year will be relocated under the new solidarity system.

Implementation readiness concerns

▪The pact allows for reduced protections during migration surges, including those caused by the "instrumentalisation" of migrants by countries like Belarus and Russia.
▪The European Commission acknowledges that no member state is fully ready to implement the new rules.