Written question – Inclusion of Afghanistan and Syria in the European list of safe countries of origin – P-004047/2025

Priority question for written answer  P-004047/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Matthieu Valet (PfE)

On 11 October 2025, Germany announced an agreement with the Taliban to return Afghan asylum seekers to their country of origin. In parallel, a number of Member States are considering a similar approach with Syria, following the gradual return to normal diplomatic relations, so they can ramp up their repatriation policy, in view of migratory pressure. A number of Member States believe migratory flows need to be better controlled and people who have been denied the right to asylum deported more quickly. With Afghanistan and Syria absent from the European list of safe countries of origin, return procedures are more complicated and the right to asylum is applied differently in different countries.

• 1.To what extent are these decisions taken by Member States legally compatible with EU return legislation and the EU list of safe countries?
• 2.In any case, does the Commission intend to propose including Afghanistan and Syria in the common list of safe countries of origin and encourage diplomatic channels to be opened, in order to harmonise and strengthen EU migration policy, facilitate returns and support Member States that are under increasing migratory pressure?

Submitted: 15.10.2025