Final Approval of Amendments to the EU Return Regulation

Development summary

In mid-June 2026, the European Parliament gave its final approval to amendments to the EU rules on the return of third-country nationals staying irregularly in Union territory, by 418 votes to 218 with 30 abstentions. The new Return Regulation replaces Directive 2008/115/EC and, on the Commission’s 2025 proposal, introduces a “European Return Order” allowing a return decision adopted by one Member State to be recognised and enforced in another; mutual recognition is initially optional and is to become mandatory only after the Commission’s implementing decision, planned for 1 July 2027.