European Parliament approves repatriation regulation as Meloni claims victory for Italy's Albania model

Final approval in Strasbourg

On 17 June 2026, the European Parliament approved the new EU regulation on repatriation with 418 votes in favour, 218 against, and 30 abstentions. The vote was carried by a right-wing majority of the European People’s Party (EPP), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Patriots for Europe, and Europe of Sovereign Nations, with a split among liberal Renew Europe lawmakers (37 in favour, 21 against, 12 abstaining). Left-leaning groups, including the Socialists and Democrats, The Left, and the Greens, voted against. The regulation now enters into force as a key component of the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact.

What the regulation changes

The new rules establish a common EU framework for the return of third-country nationals without a legal right to stay. Migrants will be obliged to cooperate with authorities; failure to do so, or a risk of absconding or security threat, can lead to detention of up to 24 months, extendable by a further six months. National authorities may, with judicial authorisation, search and seize personal belongings and electronic devices to facilitate returns. For the first time, the regulation allows member states to transfer migrants (except unaccompanied minors) to return centres in third countries that have signed bilateral agreements, provided human rights, international law, and non-refoulement principles are respected.

Today we have common tools for repatriation that apply across all European states without bureaucratic delays, meaning greater speed and efficiency. The regulation encourages voluntary return but also provides more effective instruments for forced return, such as detention, residence obligations, electronic monitoring, and entry bans.

Meloni claims historic victory

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, attending the G7 summit in Evian, celebrated the outcome as a "great success for Italy in Europe" in a video posted on social media. She stressed that the regulation follows the path of Italy's controversial protocol with Albania, which established two migrant centres on Albanian territory.

The regulation also provides for the possibility to open repatriation centres in third countries, thus effectively following the path pioneered by the Italian government with the protocol with Albania, an innovative solution that the Italian and European Left attempted to oppose at all costs, but which, thanks to this government, has now become a tool available to the whole of Europe.

Meloni added that the government had promised Italians "to defend borders" and that this vote fulfilled that promise. The Albania model, though hampered by judicial disputes within Italy, has attracted interest from other EU member states and the UK, according to reporting by ANSA.

The legislative path

The regulation was first presented by the European Commission in March 2025. A provisional political agreement between the European Parliament and EU member states was reached at the start of June 2026. The final plenary vote on 17 June confirmed the swift legislative trajectory, making it one of the first major migration-related files approved by the new right-wing majority that has coalesced around the EPP and ECR after the 2024 European elections.

Political reactions and next steps

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner hailed the vote, stating: "With the new regulation, we are putting our European house in order." Italian MEPs from Forza Italia, Lega, and Fratelli d'Italia voted in favour, while the Democratic Party, Five Star Movement, and Italian Left opposed. The regulation will require member states to implement the framework, potentially opening new bilateral deals for third-country return hubs.