The Italian government has passed a new decree to circumvent a recent ruling from the Rome tribunal and European Court of Justice (ECJ) obligations that had challenged its migration outsourcing model with Albania.
Albania and Italy struck a deal in the autumn of 2023 to set up two migrant centres in the north of the Western Balkan country. The first, at the Port of Shengjin, would process and screen migrant males rescued by Italian vessels in international waters. At a second centre, inland in Gjader, they would wait for a decision on their asylum application for up to three months.
The first 12 asylum seekers were recently returned to Italy after a Rome court ruling that referenced a recent judgment by the European Court of Justice, which had deemed their deportation invalid due to the list of ‘safe countries’.
However, on Monday evening, the Council of Ministers approved new regulations concerning the deportation of migrants to “safe countries”.
The updated list of 19 countries is largely similar to the previous one.
However, by enacting the list through a decree – a measure with greater political and institutional weight – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government seeks to ensure that newly established migrant processing centres in Albania remain operational.
With the decision, the updated list of safe countries would, thus, have the force of a law, creating an obligation to adhere to it and strengthening the government’s position even in the event of an appeal.
At the press conference following the cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio noted that the decree was prompted by a “very complex and intricate” ruling from the ECJ, adding that the decision may have been “poorly understood or misread” by the Italian judiciary.
“When a ‘safe countries’ list is part of a law, a judge cannot simply disregard it. I would strongly argue that this particular ECJ ruling does not constitute a directive and is not universally binding, as it pertains to a very bizarre case,” Nordio stated.
As for the list’s composition, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi explained that the number of “safe countries” had been reduced from 22 to 19.
Cameroon, Colombia, and Nigeria were removed from the previous list.
Piantedosi emphasised that the new list is now included in a measure and authority of law to “prevent potential judicial dismissals based on interpretations of the ‘Reception Directive.'”
The Interior Minister also noted that Italy’s decision was intended to “anticipate” upcoming EU legislation, which will take effect in June 2026 and is expected to impose even stricter rules.
The Rome tribunal’s ruling had drawn sharp criticism from the government, which accused part of the judiciary of being “prejudiced” and “obstructing” its efforts.
The European court ruled on October 4 that many of the 22 countries on Italy’s original list could not be considered fully safe, as they did not guarantee the protection of all citizens’ rights.
According to the ECJ, a country cannot be deemed “safe” if even a part of its territory fails to protect the rights of all its citizens, prompting Italy to drop Colombia, Nigeria, and Cameroon from the list.
(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)
Source: euractiv.com
