EU Migration Reform Tightening Border Checks Takes Effect

A major EU immigration reform allowing member states to reduce protections for asylum seekers came into force on Friday, June 12, 2026. Migrants irregularly entering the EU will undergo identity and security checks lasting up to seven days. Identity documents and biometric readings of faces and fingerprints will be recorded in a database.

The screening determines who receives an accelerated or normal asylum process and who should be sent back. Asylum-seekers considered a security risk or from countries such as Morocco and Bangladesh will have applications processed in up to 12 weeks at centres close to the EU's external borders. Nationals of Morocco and Bangladesh are declined protection in at least 80 percent of cases.

Under EU rules, the country where an irregular migrant first sets foot remains responsible for handling their asylum case. Italy, Greece and Malta have received the bulk of land and sea arrivals in recent years. The reform introduces a solidarity mechanism requiring member states to take in a certain number of asylum-seekers or pay €20,000 ($23,000) per asylum-seeker to countries under pressure.

At least 30,000 asylum-seekers a year will come under the relocation system. A first round of relocation negotiations held last year saw several countries refusing to accept any relocations. The package establishes an emergency response allowing member states to reduce protections for asylum-seekers and hold them longer in detention centres on external borders during unexpected migration surges.

The emergency response system will also apply to the instrumentalisation of migratory flows by Belarus and Russia. A dozen member states have yet to finalise preparations including infrastructure for the new screening procedures. A new package of measures aimed at boosting deportations of failed asylum-seekers is currently rushing through the EU's legislative process.