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REPORT (2019/2208(INI))

On the implementation of the Return Directive

A-9-2020-0238

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · Rapporteur: Tineke Strik

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A committee report on how the Return Directive (2008/115/EC) is applied. It finds gaps in safeguards and enforcement, and calls on the Commission to assess implementation and on member states to comply. It asks for individual assessment of refoulement risk before return decisions, better appeal rights and legal aid, and application of the directive to border situations. It calls for voluntary return to be prioritised, entry bans to be based on individual assessment, and detention to be a last resort with alternatives. It urges formal EU readmission agreements with parliamentary scrutiny, better post-return monitoring, and data collection on entry bans and detention.

Committee position. The committee proposes a resolution that finds gaps in the implementation of the Return Directive and calls for better compliance, safeguards, and monitoring.

Key points

  1. Notes the Commission has assessed the directive's implementation only once, despite an obligation to report every three years, and calls for a full assessment.
  2. Calls on member states to collect and publish qualitative and quantitative data on the directive's implementation, especially on entry bans and detention.
  3. Shares the Commission's aim of improving effective implementation and calls for infringement procedures where justified.
  4. Calls for formal EU readmission agreements with parliamentary scrutiny and judicial oversight, and for cooperation with third countries based on equality.
  5. Calls on the Commission to keep funding assisted voluntary return programmes and on member states to develop effective frameworks for them.
  6. Recalls that return decisions should generally allow 7 to 30 days for voluntary departure, extendable where necessary, with exceptions under Article 7(4).
  7. Stresses that return and entry-ban decisions must be individualised, written, justified, and include information on remedies in a language the person understands.
  8. Takes the view that unaccompanied children should not be returned unless it is in their best interests, and should be informed in a child-friendly manner.
  9. Urges member states to apply the directive to border situations and to ensure procedural safeguards and respect for human rights there.
  10. Calls on member states to avoid automatic entry bans, to base them on individual assessment, and to lift them on humanitarian grounds.
  11. Calls on member states to offer viable community-based alternatives to detention and to report on measures taken as alternatives.
  12. Calls on the Commission to ensure monitoring bodies for returns and to establish a post-return monitoring mechanism, with attention to vulnerable groups.

Who is affected

  • Member states, which must comply with the directive, collect data, and ensure safeguards.
  • The Commission, which must assess implementation, monitor compliance, and fund voluntary return programmes.
  • Migrants and returnees, who are affected by return decisions, entry bans, and detention.
  • Unaccompanied minors, who should not be returned unless in their best interests and should not be detained.
  • Third countries, with which formal readmission agreements and cooperation are sought.

Figures and deadlines

  • Over 490,000 return decisions issued by member states in 2019, 85% by ten member states under study.
  • Voluntary departure period of between 7 and 30 days under Article 7.
  • Belgium has 11 criteria for risk of absconding, France 8, Germany 7, the Netherlands 19.
  • Voluntary departure statistics range from 96% in Poland to 7% in Spain and Italy.
  • Return rate decreased from 46% in 2016 to 37% in 2017.
  • Between 2014 and 2018 irregular border crossings decreased from 1.82 million to 142,000.
  • In 2018, 283,880 return decisions issued, of which 147,815 people returned.
  • Around 300,000 people per year cannot be returned due to administrative barriers, health issues or risk of refoulement.