The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a political agreement to establish, for the first time in EU history, a common list of “Safe Countries of Origin” (SCO) in order to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
Citizens of countries included on this list will face greater difficulty in obtaining asylum in the European Union.
The initial list of Safe Countries of Origin includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco, and Tunisia. Asylum applications from citizens of these countries will be examined under accelerated procedures, and applicants will be required to demonstrate why the safe country designation should not apply to them. The designation of third countries as safe at the EU level will be carried out in accordance with the Asylum Procedures Regulation and the amendments agreed today. The list may be expanded in the future through the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure.
EU candidate countries will also be considered Safe Countries of Origin, unless specific circumstances indicate otherwise, such as indiscriminate violence in the context of an armed conflict. Other grounds for exclusion include an EU-wide asylum recognition rate exceeding 20 percent or the imposition of economic sanctions due to actions restricting fundamental rights and freedoms. In such cases, the European Commission will be required to inform the European Parliament.
According to recent trends, the rate of asylum applications by Georgian citizens in the EU has declined. In September, Georgia exceeded the 20 percent recognition rate threshold only in Spain, at 21 percent. In 2024, the overall asylum recognition rate for Georgian citizens across the EU stood at 4 percent.
This means that Georgia, as a candidate country, falls under the Safe Countries of Origin category, a decision that some Members of the European Parliament have described as difficult to understand.
“In this chamber, we are debating the alarming anti-democratic backsliding taking place in Georgia. Meanwhile, upstairs, the Commission, the Council, and Parliament have agreed to include Georgia on Europe’s list of Safe Countries of Origin. This year, government repression in Georgia has been brutal: arbitrary arrests, torture of demonstrators, proposals to ban opposition parties, the criminalization of media, and more. We could talk for hours about the collapse of fundamental freedoms in Georgia, and yet today the EU defines Georgia as a safe country of origin for its citizens. As a result, from today onward, anyone seeking protection in Europe, whether a political opponent or a journalist such as Mzia Amaghlobeli, who received the Sakharov Prize, will have far fewer guarantees to seek protection in Europe and far fewer rights. Yesterday, we all thanked the Georgian people for resisting and fighting for democracy. Today, perhaps we owe the Georgian people an apology,” said Cecilia Strada, an MEP from the Social Democrats, during a debate in the European Parliament on December 17.
Under the agreement, the European Commission will monitor the situation in countries included on the list and in candidate countries and will take action if circumstances change. The Commission will also be able to adopt temporary decisions suspending a country’s safe status.
Member states will retain the right to designate additional Safe Countries of Origin at the national level, except for countries whose status has been suspended at the EU level.
The agreed text emphasizes that, under the EU Treaties, the Court of Justice of the European Union has the authority to assess the legality of designating a third country as a Safe Country of Origin at the EU level.
The agreement also provides that the designation of a “safe third country” or a “Safe Country of Origin,” both at EU and national levels, may include exceptions for specific parts of a country’s territory or for clearly identifiable categories of persons. These provisions may be applied until EU asylum legislation enters into force in June 2026.
Member states will also be able to begin applying accelerated border procedures for applicants from countries whose asylum recognition rate is below 20 percent from the moment the newly agreed rules take effect. The Asylum Procedures Regulation, adopted in May 2024 as part of the Migration and Asylum Pact, will fully enter into force on June 12, 2026.
“Today’s agreement confirms a turning point in the EU’s management of migration. It is a concrete achievement that equips the Union with clear and binding tools to address migratory flows and pressure. The approved list is a practical instrument to accelerate procedures, focus resources on those entitled to protection, and reduce abuse that places a burden on national systems. It is also a political response to excessive interpretative uncertainty that in the past paralyzed national measures necessary for border control,” said rapporteur Alessandro Ciriani (ECR, Italy).
The agreement must be formally approved by the European Parliament and the Council before entering into force.
For context, Georgia, which enjoys visa-free travel to the EU, had previously been included on safe country lists in several EU member states, but these were national lists rather than a unified European register. Recognition of Georgia as a safe country by EU states is significant in the context of visa liberalization. Maintaining Georgia’s visa-free regime requires recognition as a safe country in Europe. European countries initially designated Georgia as safe after granting visa-free travel to Georgian citizens. This status creates a presumption that politically motivated justice does not exist in Georgia, helping to prevent a sharp increase in asylum applications alongside visa-free travel and to avoid overburdening asylum systems. Applicants from countries not considered safe typically receive a response to their asylum application in about six months, during which time they may legally remain in the host country, while applicants from safe countries receive decisions within approximately one month. One of the most recent cases of an EU member state recognizing Georgia as safe was Germany in 2023, although in 2025 reports emerged that a Berlin court questioned Georgia’s safe country status in the context of an individual case. The court examined the case of a Georgian couple who had participated in protests against the so-called “Russian law” in Tbilisi and later traveled to Germany to seek political asylum.