The Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU (January-June 2026) comes at a pivotal moment in the ongoing reform of the EU’s policies in the areas of migration and asylum, culminating with the entry into action of the Pact on Migration and Asylum on 12 June.
According to its programme, the Cypriot Presidency will prioritise the following migration- and asylum-related issues:
- Ensuring the ‘coherent, fair and effective implementation’ of the Pact on Migration and Asylum
- Promoting ‘a more efficient, coherent and balanced’ European returns system
- Concluding negotiations on the safe third country concept and the EU list of safe countries of origin
- Advancing the ‘efficiency’ of the external dimension of migration ‘based on a “whole of route” approach and respecting geographical balance’, including through ‘mutually beneficial strategic partnerships with key international partners on a “more for more” basis’.
In addition, it has committed to ‘initiate and conclude’ negotiations on the planned EU directive on migrant smuggling and to promote the ‘swift implementation’ of the Pact for the Mediterranean.
On 22 January, the Cypriot Presidency hosted an informal Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting in Nicosia. EU interior ministers discussed “sustainable approaches to return and reintegration”, Syria and Afghanistan, and the functioning of the Schengen Area. Other high-level migration- and asylum-related events in the coming months include:
- 5-6 March: JHA Council Meeting (Brussels)
- 25-27 March: High-level Event on Returns (Larnaka)
- 23-24 April: Informal meeting of EU heads of state and government (and possibly Southern Mediterranean partners) (Nicosia)
- 18-20 May: European Migration Network Conference (Nicosia)
- 1-3 June: High-level Network on Returns (Nicosia)
- 4-5 June: JHA Council Meeting (Luxembourg)
- 11-12 June: Informal Ministerial Conference on Pact on Migration and Asylum (Nicosia)
Relevant ECRE publications
- ECRE Policy Note 50: Towards a point of no return for fundamental rights? The EC’s proposal for a Return Regulation (November 2025)
- ECRE Policy Paper 15: Creating More “Safe” Countries and Frontloading the Pact (July 2025)
- AIDA Country Report on Cyprus – Update on 2024 (April 2025)
See also
- Joint Letter from various UN special rapporteurs about the proposed EU Return Regulation (January 2026)
- UNHCR’s Recommendations to the Cypriot and Irish 2026 Presidencies of the Council of the European Union (January 2026)
- IOM Recommendations to the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union (December 2025)
- Joint Civil Society Statement on the Council’s Position on the Return Regulation Proposal (December 2025)