ECRE expresses profound disappointment and alarm at the position adopted today (26 March) by the European Parliament on the mandate for the Return Regulation. The outcome of the vote represents a clear regression from fundamental rights standards and risks undermining core principles of EU law.
The Parliament’s position builds on the compromise text adopted in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on 9 March which significantly altered an already restrictive European Commission proposal. Crucially, this outcome was driven by the Group of European People’s Party (EPP), which chose to align with far-right political groups that include parties such as Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and France’s National Rally (RN) to secure a majority. In doing so, the EPP has not only weakened core safeguards and principles, it has also actively contributed to legitimising far-right narratives and policy approaches in the European Parliament, including on migration.
Nearly all democratic, pro-EU political groups voted against the mandate, while the majority of EPP MEPs chose to vote alongside far-right groups in support of it.
This political choice carries serious consequences. Normalising rhetoric and measures that stigmatise migrants and erode fundamental rights protections signals a willingness by mainstream actors to abandon long-standing democratic safeguards, including the cordon sanitaire. Such a shift is deeply concerning and sets a dangerous precedent for future EU policymaking.
Among the most troubling elements are measures that:
- Enable deportations to third countries with which individuals have no connection and have need been to, including to the so-called “return hubs”;
- Weaken the suspensive effect of appeals, increasing the risk of wrongful removals before courts can assess protection needs;
- Require Member States to issue return decisions even where removal is not realistically feasible, leaving individuals trapped in prolonged legal limbo;
- Severely restrict access to voluntary departure, despite overwhelming evidence of its effectiveness and humanity;
- Remove guarantees of access to basic services when return is postponed;
- Impose expanded obligations on individuals, coupled with punitive sanctions for non-compliance, even where barriers are beyond their control;
- Broaden detention grounds and allow detention for up to 24 months, including for families;
- Undermine a common EU return system by allowing greater reliance on divergent national rules.
This outcome comes in the face of sustained warnings from a wide range of actors, including civil society, legal experts, international organisations and no fewer than 16 United Nations special rapporteurs. It is particularly alarming that these warnings have been effectively disregarded.
This vote reinforces a coercive and punitive approach to migration that is neither effective nor aligned with the EU’s foundational values. It opens the door to increasingly aggressive enforcement practices, with potentially far-reaching consequences for individuals’ rights and dignity.
As trilogue negotiations begin, ECRE calls on all EU institutions, and in particular those political actors who have upheld a rights-based approach, to resist further erosion of safeguards and to restore a fair, humane and legally sound return framework.
What is at stake is not only the content of one piece of legislation, but the direction of EU policymaking. The normalisation of far-right rhetoric and policies on migration risks fundamentally reshaping the EU’s approach away from rights, evidence and sustainability, and towards deterrence at any cost.