Cyprus has been steering the political agenda of the European Union since 1 January 2026, when it assumed the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first half of the year. On 16 January the Presidency secretariat released a detailed priorities paper confirming that effective migration and asylum management is the presidency’s flagship theme. Under the slogan “An Autonomous Union – Open to the World,” Nicosia pledges to achieve concrete progress on the long-negotiated Pact on Migration and Asylum, speed up the EU-wide returns system, and strengthen cooperation with key non-EU transit and origin countries.
In practical terms, Cyprus wants to convert the political agreement on the Migration Pact—clinched in December 2025—into secondary legislation and operational guidance by June 2026. According to diplomats, early dossiers slated for adoption include mandatory border screening regulations, a streamlined Eurodac biometric database, and common procedures for issuing long-stay national visas to workers relocated within multinational corporations. At the same time, Nicosia will use its presidency to give political backing to the new ProtectEU Strategy, which bundles external-border protection with the fight against organised crime and terrorism.
For corporate mobility managers, the policy focus signals two immediate implications. First, compliance costs at EU external borders are likely to rise as biometric capture, pre-arrival data requirements and carrier sanctions are harmonised. Firms sending project teams to EU client sites should plan for longer lead-times to obtain work authorisations or service provider permits. Second, the presidency’s emphasis on mutually beneficial partnerships with third countries could unlock new mobility corridors, easing talent flows from neighbouring North-African and Eastern-Mediterranean states once return-and-readmission deals are in place.
![Cyprus EU Council Presidency Prioritises Migration Management and ProtectEU Strategy]()
In this context, companies and individual travellers can turn to VisaHQ for hands-on assistance. Via its Cyprus information hub (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/), the firm supplies step-by-step guidance on Schengen and national visa applications, document checks and courier services, helping mobility teams stay compliant with the tighter screening and biometric requirements Cyprus is advancing.
Cyprus also promises to keep business travellers in mind by pushing to stabilise the timeline for the Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS travel authorisation, both of which were delayed twice in 2025. A senior presidency source told The Brussels Times that Nicosia wants a “single, irreversible go-live date” so that airlines and travel-management companies can finalise their IT integrations. Failure to stick to a firm schedule, the source warned, would “undermine market confidence and increase airline penalties for passenger mis-matches at the gate.”
Beyond legislative work, Cyprus will host an informal Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in Nicosia on 21–23 January, giving ministers an early opportunity to break any deadlock on the toughest elements of the migration pact such as mandatory solidarity contributions. The presidency has already opened an online accreditation portal for journalists and stakeholder organisations, urging early registration due to heightened security requirements.
In practical terms, Cyprus wants to convert the political agreement on the Migration Pact—clinched in December 2025—into secondary legislation and operational guidance by June 2026. According to diplomats, early dossiers slated for adoption include mandatory border screening regulations, a streamlined Eurodac biometric database, and common procedures for issuing long-stay national visas to workers relocated within multinational corporations. At the same time, Nicosia will use its presidency to give political backing to the new ProtectEU Strategy, which bundles external-border protection with the fight against organised crime and terrorism.
For corporate mobility managers, the policy focus signals two immediate implications. First, compliance costs at EU external borders are likely to rise as biometric capture, pre-arrival data requirements and carrier sanctions are harmonised. Firms sending project teams to EU client sites should plan for longer lead-times to obtain work authorisations or service provider permits. Second, the presidency’s emphasis on mutually beneficial partnerships with third countries could unlock new mobility corridors, easing talent flows from neighbouring North-African and Eastern-Mediterranean states once return-and-readmission deals are in place.
In this context, companies and individual travellers can turn to VisaHQ for hands-on assistance. Via its Cyprus information hub (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/), the firm supplies step-by-step guidance on Schengen and national visa applications, document checks and courier services, helping mobility teams stay compliant with the tighter screening and biometric requirements Cyprus is advancing.
Cyprus also promises to keep business travellers in mind by pushing to stabilise the timeline for the Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS travel authorisation, both of which were delayed twice in 2025. A senior presidency source told The Brussels Times that Nicosia wants a “single, irreversible go-live date” so that airlines and travel-management companies can finalise their IT integrations. Failure to stick to a firm schedule, the source warned, would “undermine market confidence and increase airline penalties for passenger mis-matches at the gate.”
Beyond legislative work, Cyprus will host an informal Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in Nicosia on 21–23 January, giving ministers an early opportunity to break any deadlock on the toughest elements of the migration pact such as mandatory solidarity contributions. The presidency has already opened an online accreditation portal for journalists and stakeholder organisations, urging early registration due to heightened security requirements.
