EU Official Says Bloc Is Regaining Control of Migration Ahead of New Asylum Rules

The European Union is tightening migration controls with a new asylum pact set for June that aims to accelerate deportations and screen arrivals at external borders. A senior EU official said the bloc had lacked adequate systems a decade ago and is now seeking to regain oversight of entries and returns.

The official spoke to reporters on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., as the EU prepares for the pact's implementation. "Ten years ago, we didn't have a system. We didn't have control over what is happening and who would come into the European Union and who would have to leave again," the official said.

"And that's why the member states agreed on the pact for asylum and migration. And now that's what we want to get back. " The official reported that deportation return rates have risen from roughly one in five to nearly 30 percent in recent years. However, the official acknowledged that only about one-quarter to one-third of migrants ordered to leave the EU are actually returned.

The pact, long under discussion among member states, is designed to close enforcement gaps by shifting more processing to the bloc’s external borders, accelerating asylum decisions and expanding return mechanisms. Under the new system, migrants arriving irregularly will undergo biometric and security checks at the border, with asylum claims decided within weeks.

Rejected applicants will be fast-tracked for deportation. The measures also expand the use of so-called "safe third countries" for returns outside the EU. The official said new entry-exit tracking systems and real-time data sharing between member states have improved authorities' ability to identify security risks.

Out of 30,000 screened individuals, 750 were found to pose a security threat to the European Union, the official said.

" The official also noted that global conflicts, including tensions involving Iran, are contributing to concerns about radicalization, though no clear migration surge linked to those events has been observed. European officials have acknowledged challenges in communicating migration policies to both domestic audiences and U.S. counterparts.

The official said the EU "didn’t do it enough" in recent years and is now working to better explain its approach. The official stated that maintaining public support for legal migration and asylum protections requires Europeans to feel the system is under control.

"If you want to get the support of the people in Europe, then they must have the feeling that we have control of what we're doing," the official said.