The European Council’s paradigm shift on migration
The high-stakes European Council summit concluded on Thursday, with migration policy dominating the agenda.
For the first time, leaders discussed so-called “return hubs” — centres in third countries where migrants within the EU, whose asylum claims have been rejected and cannot be repatriated, would be held.
This, along with discussions around the European Union’s asylum and migration pact, set to be implemented in 2026, signalled that leaders were potentially radically rethinking how the bloc approaches migration.
However, final council conclusions made no mention of return hubs, and failed to provide a timeline for the EU’s new migration pact.
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