Kathimerini Greece Newsroom
By Alexandra Voudouri
The European Commission on Thursday unveiled a tougher migration strategy for the next five years, centered on overhauling the EU’s visa system and stepping up deportations, moves that effectively seal the bloc’s harder line on irregular migration.
At the heart of the plan is a new visa strategy that Brussels openly frames as a diplomatic lever. Access to European territory for citizens of third countries will increasingly be used as a bargaining chip to achieve the EU’s migration goals.
“Visas are the strongest tool we have,” an EU source told Kathimerini.
In practical terms, the EU aims to “penalize” countries that refuse to take back their own nationals by restricting visa issuance. “Visa-free travel to the EU is a privilege,” said Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner. “But from now on, there will be clear obligations.”
Brunner likened the approach to a traffic light system: “To earn the green light, third countries must meet objective criteria, such as high return rates.”
“For countries whose citizens require a visa to enter the EU, we will strengthen our leverage by linking visa conditions more closely to our interests,” Brunner said, adding that readmission mechanisms will be reinforced. This, he noted, will allow the EU to act more swiftly against partner countries that refuse to accept back nationals who have no legal right to stay in Europe.
According to the policy text, a new evaluation mechanism, currently under consultation between the Commission and member states, will tie visa rules to specific benchmarks for third countries, including return and readmission rates.
At the same time, the strategy seeks to ease pathways for attracting skilled workers to fill shortages in key sectors such as healthcare. A concrete example is the recent EU–India trade agreement, which sets out a new framework to facilitate the arrival of skilled Indian professionals, as well as seasonal workers, to the EU.
Amid the rise of the far right across Europe and the political “weaponization” of migration by third countries, Brussels is hardening its stance with the clear aim of further reducing irregular arrivals.
“Until now, the bloc tried to solve the migration issue internally, creating friction among member states,” an EU source told Kathimerini. “The strategy now focuses on keeping illegal arrivals as low as possible.”
Although irregular arrivals fell by a quarter in 2025, the new five-year strategy places particular emphasis on increasing the rate of deportations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.
The document also highlights the need to further advance what it calls a “dynamic migration diplomacy,” aimed at persuading third countries either to block migrant departures toward Europe or to take back their nationals through similar agreements. Such deals are already in place with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania, where migration control has been linked to European funding and investment.
