Rome: The EU return regulation will replace the 2008 Return Directive with a single rulebook, and its toughest changes hit detention, entry bans and appeals. Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on 1 June 2026, and Parliament approved the text on 17 June by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions.
The EU Return Regulation raises the maximum detention period from six months to two years, with a possible six-month extension, according to Euronews. People who pose a security risk can face detention without a fixed limit. Entry bans rise from five to ten years in most cases, and lifetime bans become possible for security threats.
The text also allows return hubs in non-EU countries, provided the agreements respect international human rights standards and the principle of non-refoulement. Unaccompanied minors stay exempt. Euronews reports that families with children can still be sent to a hub, which is one reason rights groups object.
Rapporteur Malik Azmani, a Dutch member of the Renew group, defended the deal. “While we have secured Europe’s main entrance with the Pact on Migration and Asylum, we have now also protected the back door,” he said, according to Eunews. Home Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner called the agreement “a really very important step”.
The EU Return Regulation also introduces a European Return Order, which lets one member state recognise and enforce another state’s return decision. Euronews says that order stays voluntary. Automatic suspension of a deportation during an appeal ends, so national courts will decide case by case.
Critics push back hard. Mélissa Camara of the Greens called the text the result of a “shameful agreement” and predicted challenges in national courts and before the Court of Justice. Italian opposition members also attacked the detention limits as a human rights problem, and a migrants’ rights network warned of a “draconian” system.
The facts on results remain contested. The Brussels Times puts the return rate at 28 percent in 2025, its highest level in ten years, while Eunews cites a lower share of returns actually carried out. The Commission wants the new return regulation to close that gap, and the European Parliament press release sets out the legislative route.
Some provisions apply 12 months after entry into force, while the Council had wanted a two-year delay. Governments now face a short runway to rebuild detention capacity and court procedures, and national interior ministries have to decide how to staff new return units. Border and migration officials in the capitals will also need guidance on how the return regulation interacts with the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which entered into force on 12 June 2026. The EU Return Regulation will therefore test member states’ administrations long before it shows any effect on return rates in 2027.
