On Jan. 29, the European Commission presented its new five-year strategy on migration, setting out how it plans to manage arrivals, asylum and returns in the coming years.
The strategy is built around the Pact on Migration and Asylum, a major overhaul of EU migration rules adopted in 2023–2024 and due to apply from June 2026. The Commission says the focus will now shift to implementing the pact and reinforcing it where needed.
“We didn't have control. We didn't have rules,” said Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner during a presser on Thursday. With the pact and other reforms to migration policy, he continued, “we get control back.”
A key element of the strategy is the solidarity mechanism, which encourages responsibility-sharing among the EU member states, as countries located at the bloc’s external borders have to manage a higher influx of people.
How did the EU’s migration pact come about?
In 2015, more than a million people entered the EU irregularly, most of them fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The scale of arrivals was unprecedented: detections of illegal border crossings were six times higher than in 2014.
The Covid-19 pandemic further strained EU migration management systems. Although arrivals dropped in the first half of 2020, they exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 50% in 2021. At the same time, returns became harder to enforce due to travel restrictions, limited flights and weak cooperation from countries of origin.
These pressures led the European Commission to present its first proposal for the Pact on Migration and Asylum in 2020.
Since then, the EU has faced additional challenges: increased arrivals at its eastern border via Belarus in 2021 — described by the Commission as “the instrumentalisation of migration for political ends” — and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which prompted around 4 million Ukrainians to apply for temporary protection in the EU.
What’s in the migration pact?
The Pact on Migration and Asylum is a legislative framework covering migration, asylum, integration and border management.
Under the new rules, irregular migrants will undergo screenings before authorities decide whether they qualify for asylum or must be returned to their country of origin or another country deemed safe by the EU. These checks — covering identity, security and health — will apply both at the border and within EU territory. Screening should last no longer than a week, after which migrants will be directed to asylum procedures or return procedures.
Screening relies on significant changes to Eurodac, the EU’s biometric database. In addition to fingerprints, authorities will collect facial images, identity data and copies of identity and travel documents. The Commission argues the expanded database will help identify security risks and human trafficking and exploitation. Critics, however, worry about intrusive data collection and potential government misuse.
The pact also reforms asylum procedures themselves.
Currently, primary responsibility for asylum applications is placed on the country of first entry — a system that burdens countries along major migration routes. The new rules distribute responsibility more evenly among member states.
The pact also prioritises “embedding migration in international partnerships,” meaning closer cooperation with non-EU countries of origin and transit to prevent irregular departures towards the EU. The approach is presented as a way to reduce deaths along dangerous migration routes, but critics warn it may expose migrants to other risks if partner countries lack adequate protection systems or fail to effectively combat smuggling.
How will the EU implement its migration pact?
Each year, member states and EU Agencies will submit information to help decide what countries are “under migratory pressure,” “at risk,” or facing “a significant migratory situation.”
Based on this assessment, the Commission proposes how many asylum seekers should be relocated and how much financial support is needed for the following year. Contributions are calculated mainly according to each country’s population and GDP, with exemptions for states under pressure.
Member states can contribute in different ways — through relocations, financial support or through practical help like assisting with staff and infrastructure in countries under pressure.
For instance, Germany pledged 4,555 relocations for 2026, Ireland committed €9,260,000 in financial support and Luxembourg opted for a mixed approach offering 15 relocations and €1,040,000.
Where does implementation of the migration pact stand now?
In December 2025, the Council determined the solidarity pool — the number of relocations and how much money member states must contribute. They also agreed on a list of safe countries of origin, and adopted new rules allowing applications to be dismissed if protection could have been obtained in a non-EU country considered safe.
However, not all countries complied: Hungary and Slovakia have not submitted their mandatory contributions, despite not being exempt.
This article was first published on Oct. 22, 2024, and updated on Feb. 2, 2026.
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