In a dramatic vote in Brussels on 6 December, the European People’s Party (EPP) broke with its traditional centrist allies and teamed up with hard-right groups to push two controversial migration files through the Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee. Italy’s governing coalition lobbied heavily for the bills, seeing them as a blueprint for stricter border management ahead of the 2026 Jubilee and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The first regulation would allow EU states to transfer asylum seekers to 'safe third countries' even if the person has no personal connection to that country—echoing Italy’s recent agreement to process certain migrants in Albania. The second measure creates an expanded EU-wide list of ‘safe countries of origin’, accelerating rejection of applicants from those states. Both texts now move to the 8 December Justice and Home Affairs Council, where member-state interior ministers (including Italy’s Matteo Piantedosi) are expected to rubber-stamp them.
![European Parliament Votes for Tougher Asylum Rules with Crucial Backing from Italy’s Right]()
For Italy, the package is a diplomatic win: it validates Rome’s argument that irregular flows across the central Mediterranean require a firmer, bloc-wide response and provides legal cover for offshore processing experiments. Businesses, meanwhile, see knock-on effects for corporate relocations and assignees who rely on EU family-reunification and status-conversion provisions; the tighter definition of 'safe' could shrink the talent pool from countries such as Tunisia, Bangladesh or Georgia.
Human-rights NGOs and several liberal MEPs warn the reforms risk breaching the principle of non-refoulement and will trigger fresh litigation at the EU Court of Justice. Italian chambers of commerce in North Africa fear that branding more countries 'safe' without parallel labour-migration channels will push would-be workers onto irregular routes, increasing deaths at sea and insurance costs for shipping lines that have to perform rescues.
If adopted unchanged, the rules could enter into force by late 2026, just as the EU’s new Entry/Exit System becomes fully operational. Global mobility managers should review asylum-contingency clauses, family-reunification timelines and compliance training for assignment planners in sectors that hire from the affected countries.
The first regulation would allow EU states to transfer asylum seekers to 'safe third countries' even if the person has no personal connection to that country—echoing Italy’s recent agreement to process certain migrants in Albania. The second measure creates an expanded EU-wide list of ‘safe countries of origin’, accelerating rejection of applicants from those states. Both texts now move to the 8 December Justice and Home Affairs Council, where member-state interior ministers (including Italy’s Matteo Piantedosi) are expected to rubber-stamp them.
For Italy, the package is a diplomatic win: it validates Rome’s argument that irregular flows across the central Mediterranean require a firmer, bloc-wide response and provides legal cover for offshore processing experiments. Businesses, meanwhile, see knock-on effects for corporate relocations and assignees who rely on EU family-reunification and status-conversion provisions; the tighter definition of 'safe' could shrink the talent pool from countries such as Tunisia, Bangladesh or Georgia.
Human-rights NGOs and several liberal MEPs warn the reforms risk breaching the principle of non-refoulement and will trigger fresh litigation at the EU Court of Justice. Italian chambers of commerce in North Africa fear that branding more countries 'safe' without parallel labour-migration channels will push would-be workers onto irregular routes, increasing deaths at sea and insurance costs for shipping lines that have to perform rescues.
If adopted unchanged, the rules could enter into force by late 2026, just as the EU’s new Entry/Exit System becomes fully operational. Global mobility managers should review asylum-contingency clauses, family-reunification timelines and compliance training for assignment planners in sectors that hire from the affected countries.
