The European Parliament has approved its negotiating position on the EU’s new Return Regulation with 389 votes in favour, 206 against, and 32 abstentions, marking a breakthrough victory for right-wing groups leading the legislation. Patriots for Europe (PfE) played a key role in securing support for the initiative, breaking months of deadlock in negotiations dominated by the mainstream majority and paving the way for final talks with member states on what is set to become the bloc’s toughest deportation framework to date.
The vote, held on 26 March, marks a decisive step in the legislative process, formally allowing the Parliament to enter trilogue negotiations with the Council. While the regulation is not yet fully adopted, the result signals a clear political shift towards stricter migration enforcement at EU level.
The new framework shifts the balance of power away from Brussels towards member states, introducing a model of ‘minimum harmonization’. Under this approach, national governments would retain greater flexibility to implement stricter return measures under their own legal systems, particularly in the areas of border control and internal security.
Key elements of the proposed regulation include stricter penalties for non-cooperation with deportation procedures, potentially including criminal sanctions; extended detention periods of up to 24 months; and new rules limiting the ability of migrants to delay deportation through repeated appeals.
The framework also proposes the use of ‘return hubs’ in third countries and broader mutual recognition of deportation orders across EU member states. It introduces the possibility of deporting migrants to so-called ‘safe third countries’, even if they have no prior connection to them.
That particular point echoes Hungary’s migration policy concept of the safe third country logic, which has been in place since the 2015 migration crisis. At the time, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the only European leader to take a hard stance against mass migration, a position that drew sustained criticism from Western governments. Now, a decade later, the EU’s common migration policy is increasingly moving in that direction.
The vote represents a clear breakthrough for right-wing groups in the European Parliament. Alongside Patriots for Europe, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) also supported the stricter measures.
Marieke Ehlers, PfE’s lead negotiator, said previous efforts had failed because mainstream parties were ‘unable to deliver the stricter return policy that voters are demanding’. She added that PfE had prepared its own proposals in advance and helped construct a majority ‘with a clear objective: to finally deliver results and restore control over returns’.
While the final shape of the legislation will depend on negotiations with the Council, Thursday’s vote signals that the EU is moving decisively towards a more restrictive and enforcement-focused migration policy framework, with a clear focus on returning control to member states.
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