Macron rejects EU plans for migrant return hubs, warns they violate European principles

Macron draws a red line

Emmanuel Macron used the end of the EU summit in Brussels on Friday to break openly with 19 member states that back so-called “return hubs.” He declared that France would not set up centres in non-EU countries to hold rejected asylum seekers, and would block any attempt to finance them from the EU’s common budget. “I respect those who want to do it, but I disagree from both a pragmatic and a principled point of view, and I believe it has nothing to do with European policy,” he told reporters.

Yes to a policy that fights illegal immigration, that makes us more effective and leads to returns … For France, no to return centres or ‘return hubs’ in third countries.

He added that he had “never seen a return centre in a third country work,” pointing to Italy’s troubled experiment with centres in Albania, where court rulings forced Italy to bring several migrants back.

The EU’s legal push

The return regulation that opens the door to out-of-EU detention hubs cleared the European Parliament on Wednesday. It permits member states to negotiate bilateral agreements with third countries willing to host such facilities. The law is the final piece of the bloc’s overhauled migration and asylum pact, which has been tightened over recent years.

Proponents argue that hubs will accelerate deportations of people with no right to stay and deter irregular arrivals. Human-rights groups have described them as “legal black holes.”

A divided union

A joint letter spearheaded by Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, published during the summit, gathered 19 signatures. Among the signatories are Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece, all of which have been pushing the project. German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said concrete agreements with third countries should be reached this year. Rwanda, Uganda and Uzbekistan are among the locations reportedly under consideration.

We are convinced of third-country solutions and ask the Commission for financial support.

Spain abstained on the financial framework provision that would allow EU money to fund hubs, while France entered a formal reservation. The remaining member states took no public position.

The budget flashpoint

At the heart of the dispute is the next Multiannual Financial Framework, running from 2028 to 2034. This week, member-state diplomats agreed that the “Global Europe” external action envelope could be used to finance “innovative solutions” for migration – the euphemism employed by the von der Leyen Commission for out-of-EU deportation centres.

Macron insisted that return hubs are matters of national policy, not European policy, and that the Union’s common purse should not fund them. “This must be the responsibility of the policies of each state,” he said.

Values and efficacy

Macron’s language was unusually sharp. “I am a great defender of innovation, but I am very cautious when innovation concerns values and human rights,” he said, explicitly referring to the phrase “innovative solutions.” He questioned whether the scheme matched the principles on which Europe was built.

Are we going to push all those people to a country that is not theirs, when you don’t even want them to stay in yours? I am not sure that this is our Europe.

The French president underlined his support for rigorous border management and faster returns, but only for people sent back to their own countries of origin, not to third states with which they have no connection.