EU resettlement and humanitarian admission framework regulation

KEY POINTS

• The regulation is part of the pact on migration and asylum, a new set of rules to manage migration and set up a common EU asylum system.
• The EU framework replaces the existing ad hoc resettlement and humanitarian admission schemes in place in some EU Member States.
• It provides legal and safe arrival to the EU for eligible non-EU (third-country) nationals or stateless persons, granting them asylum / international protection or humanitarian status under national law.

Main features

• A common procedure for resettlement and humanitarian admission operations, reducing current divergences among national practices and improving efficiency. The rules include:
  • eligibility criteria;
  • grounds for refusing admission;
  • a consent requirement;
  • rules on granting international protection or humanitarian status under national law.
• A two-year EU resettlement and humanitarian admission plan to be based on a proposal by the European Commission, and adopted by means of a Council of the European Union implementing act, which will:
  • determine the total number of persons in need of protection to be admitted to the EU in line with the EU framework and include indications on the voluntary contribution by each Member State;
  • set geographic priorities of non-EU countries from which admission is to occur;
  • take into account the outcomes of the meetings of the High-Level Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Committee.

The Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/2628 establishes the EU Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Plan for 2026–2027, setting a total of up to 10 430 persons to be admitted during that period and specifying the participating Member States’ voluntary contributions, as well as the regions from which admissions are to take place.

• A High-Level Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Committee, which will advise the Commission on issues related to the implementation of the regulation:
  • it comprises representatives of the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Member States, with the European Union Agency for Asylum, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration being invited to its meetings, along with other relevant organisations being invited as necessary;
  • it should meet at least once a year.
• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland will be invited to be associated with the implementation of the EU resettlement and humanitarian admission plan.
• The Member States’ efforts will be supported by appropriate funding from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
• The Commission must submit an evaluation report on the functioning of the regulation to the Parliament and to the Council by June 2028.