Regulation Establishes Limits for Safe Nations List in EU Decision - Judgment by the EU curtails countries deemed safe for asylum purposes
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued a ruling in 2025 that sets new guidelines for designating safe countries of origin (SCO) for accelerated asylum procedures. These updated guidelines require EU Member States to base their lists on transparent, verifiable sources and assessments, ensuring the safety of the entire population, including marginalized minorities.
According to the new guidelines, Member States must disclose and substantiate the evidence used to classify a country as safe. This includes referencing reports from credible sources such as human rights organizations and governmental analyses. The designation must guarantee safety for all groups within the country’s population, excluding countries where particular groups face serious risks, such as persecution of homosexuals or ethnic minorities.
Until new EU-wide asylum regulations take effect, expected in June 2026, these requirements apply to national lists. In parallel, the European Commission has proposed a common EU-level list of seven safe countries of origin—Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia—intended to facilitate accelerated border asylum procedures starting mid-2026.
The Italian court referred the matter to the CJEU for resolution, following a case involving two people from Bangladesh who challenged the rejection of their asylum applications because their country of origin was classified as safe by Italy. These two individuals were among the migrants who were brought to camps in Albania by Italy under the "Albania model," a flagship project of Italy's current government, but the project is currently on hold due to resistance in the Italian judiciary.
It is unclear how the "Albania model" will proceed after the CJEU’s decision. However, the ruling has implications for Germany's migration law, according to migration law expert Pauline Endres de Oliveira. The ruling also emphasizes that submitting an asylum application is not a basis for imprisonment, and no one may be imprisoned without a legal basis.
Under the updated guidelines, applicants from so-called safe countries of origin can be rejected faster in the EU. This development is part of a broader trend towards a more harmonized approach in the EU asylum system, with stricter judicial standards on SCO designations to safeguard vulnerable groups while accelerating processing and return procedures for applicants from certain countries consistently deemed low-risk.
- In accordance with the new policy-and-legislation established by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), EU Member States are now required to disclose and substantiate the evidence used to classify a country as a safe country of origin (SCO), referencing reports from credible sources such as human rights organizations and governmental analyses, ensuring safety for all groups within the population.
- The ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has political implications, as it emphasizes that submitting an asylum application is not a basis for imprisonment and no one may be imprisoned without a legal basis, part of a broader trend towards stricter judicial standards on SCO designations in the EU general news landscape.
