EU agrees on new legislation restricting admissibility of asylum claims

The European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on new legislation restricting the admissibility of asylum claims by revising the safe third country concept, according to a statement.

Negotiators from the European Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on EU legislation that revises the safe third country concept and expands the circumstances under which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible, according to a statement issued late Wednesday.

The development shows the "determination of EU legislators to make the EU's asylum system more efficient and robust," the European Council statement added.

"During our presidency, we managed to revise the 'safe third country' concept in record time allowing member states to make agreements with safe third countries on asylum processing outside Europe," Rasmus Stoklund, Danish minister for immigration and integration, said in the statement.

The safe third country concept allows EU member states to reject an asylum application as inadmissible when asylum seekers could have sought and, if eligible, received international protection in a non-EU country that is considered safe for them.

According to the new rules, member states will be able to use the safe third country concept in certain situations, including when there is a "connection" between the asylum seeker and the third country.

The concept will also be applied if the applicant transited through a third country before arriving in the EU and if there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country that ensures that a person's asylum request is processed in the non-EU country of origin.

"The Council and the European Parliament agreed to follow the Council's approach that the safe third country concept cannot be applied on the basis of an agreement or arrangement where unaccompanied minors are concerned," said the statement.

The provisional agreement can officially be adopted only after it is confirmed by both the European Council and the European Parliament.