|Published on: 12th February 2026|Categories: News|
On 10 February, the European Parliament adopted a number of amendments to the Asylum Procedure Regulation, notably to introduce an EU-wide list of “safe countries of origin” (SCOs) and to revise the use of the “safe third country” (STC) concept. The vote allows for the introduction of a common EU list of safe countries of origin (Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as EU candidate countries (in most cases)) and changes to the safe third country concept that will expand the conditions under which EU member states may declare an asylum application inadmissible.
ECRE has previously highlighted the high risks that these changes pose for people seeking asylum (see here and here) and has recently published an explainer to provide clarity on the use of the SCO and STC concepts, as well as on the “return hub” concept.
A number of human rights organisations have also raised serious concerns about these reforms. Amnesty International has stated that the changes undermine the EU’s commitment to refugee protection and could see asylum applications rejected without merit examination, eroding individualised assessments, while Human Rights Watch has warned that recent they risk undermining access to full and fair asylum procedures and eroding protection standards across the bloc. Other NGOs, including several ECRE member organisations, have also underscored the potential for these legal changes to weaken the right to asylum and human dignity across Europe.
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