Diminishing safeguards, increasing returns: Non-refoulement gaps in the EU return and readmission system. EPC Discussion Paper, 4 October 2019

Increasing the rate of return of third country nationals without a legal right to remain in the EU was a priority of the 2014-2019 European Commission. In September 2018, the Commission proposed the first recast of the Return Directive since its entry into force in 2010. The European Parliament’s draft report and the Council’s partial general approach then followed in 2019. While it is still unclear in what form this file will be taken up by the new legislature, return will clearly remain a key policy objective. This will involve both an acceleration of return procedures and an expansion of cooperation with third countries on readmission