A stricter migration policy has become a mainstream position across Europe.Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images

EU closes in on migrant returns deal – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

BRUSSELS — The EU is closing in on a plan designed to increase the number of failed asylum seekers leaving the bloc.

Described by Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner as the “missing piece” of plans to toughen up EU migration policy, negotiators for the Council, Parliament and Commission are expected to reach a deal in a final round of talks on Wednesday.

The rate of failed asylum seekers leaving the EU is around 20 percent, according to numbers cited by the European Commission, although recent Eurostat figures put it above 25 percent.