Home Affairs Ministers Review Schengen Priorities as EES Starts Operation

EU interior ministers met in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 14 October 2025, days after the Entry/Exit System (EES) entered into force at the bloc's external borders. The agenda covered faster returns, civil protection reform, the future of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the wider rollout of border and security IT systems.

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Migration: faster returns and mutual recognition

Ministers discussed a proposal to establish a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the EU. The draft legislation, still being examined at expert level, includes new elements intended to make returns swifter, such as obligations for returnees to cooperate with national authorities and stricter rules for the return of people posing a security threat. Ministers agreed that more effective EU-wide procedures are essential to speed up returns and to increase the share of people who are actually returned.

A central point of debate was the mandatory mutual recognition of return decisions issued by other member states, meaning that one country would recognise and enforce a return decision taken by another. Several member states argued this would send a strong signal that illegally staying migrants cannot circumvent a decision by moving elsewhere in the EU, while others stressed the need for flexibility, noting that issuing a national decision may sometimes be faster. Over a working lunch, ministers also discussed the external dimension of migration, including voluntary and forced returns to Syria.

Schengen: Frontex review and border IT systems

As is customary at meetings of interior ministers, the Council took stock of the overall state of the Schengen area, with the Commission presenting its Schengen Barometer. Ministers debated the future of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, ahead of a Commission proposal to revise the underlying regulation in 2026. Member states said their starting point is operational needs and that any revision should keep the focus on the agency's core functions of external borders and return, as well as cooperation with third countries.

Ministers also received a state of play on the EU's border management and law enforcement IT infrastructure. A key element, the Entry/Exit System, entered into force on 12 October 2025 and registers the entry, exit and refusal of entry of non-EU nationals crossing the external borders for short stays. The presidency stressed the importance of delivering the new Eurodac fingerprint database and the ETIAS travel authorisation during 2026. Travellers can read our overview of how ETIAS works for the practical side of these changes.

Civil protection and internal security

Ministers held a debate on draft legislation to reform the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and to integrate support for health emergency preparedness, with EUR 10.7 billion earmarked under the next EU budget. The proposal covers a Crisis Coordination Hub and stronger civil-military cooperation, reflecting concerns that Europe faces disasters of unprecedented scale.

On internal security, the presidency updated ministers on work to implement the roadmap for lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement, presented by the Commission in June 2025, including a technology roadmap on encryption expected in 2026. Ministers also discussed the longer-term internal-security challenges posed by the situation in the Middle East. Under other business, the Commission presented its first annual progress report on simplification and gave an update on the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, including the first annual solidarity pool.