InfoMigrants

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum will need to be transposed into French law by June 12, when the new rules come into force. While the current political situation in France has slowed the drafting of the necessary adaptations, some precisions on the pact's implementation in France have recently come to light.

"I think we will be ready by June 12. We will try." The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, recently admitted that his government was late in implementing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is set to enter into force on June 12.

European law has precedence over national law. This means the EU pact – which includes nine regulations and one directive – will overhaul screening, detention and return procedures across the EU. If national and EU law aren’t aligned in a timely manner, numerous judicial problems could arise. "Forty percent of the Code on Foreigners and Asylum will be out of sync with EU law," Nunez cautioned during a Senate hearing on April 29.

Since the government lacks a stable majority in the National Assembly, France is behind on implementing the new EU immigration rules. To fast-track the process of adapting the EU rules to French law, the government is considering using ordinances. This is a type of executive decree allowing it to implement measures without getting approval from the National Assembly or the Senate. Yet the government still needs to hold a parliamentary vote to allow for the possibility of legislating via ordinances.

A parliamentary debate on the matter is scheduled on May 20, 21 and 22. "If ordinances are issued as planned, implementing decrees could appear as early as July," said the website Visa HQ. Any delay in implementation beyond June 12 will be "detrimental [. . .] to the applicants for these titles themselves, whose exercise of rights will be made more difficult," warned the Council of State, consulted on the subject in late March.

The chair of the French Senate's law committee, Muriel Jourda, regretted the circumvention of parliamentary debate. Along with several of her colleagues, she expressed her difficulty in "giving the government a blank check."

No project for ordinances has been declared for now. The minister was urged by the senators during an April 29 government session to provide some clarity on the pact’s future implementation in France.

Asylum procedure at the border

One of the main aspects of the pact is the screening and asylum procedure at France’s external borders (meaning the Schengen Zone’s borders). This will take place at French airports "80 to 90 percent of the time," said the minister. Anyone declaring themselves as an asylum seeker will be subject to health and security checks. The Eurodac system will screen applicants to filter out anyone who might present a security risk. Only after this screening process can the relevant prefecture register the asylum application.

Previously, when an asylum seeker arrived at an external border, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees (OFPRA) issued a judgment. The person then returned to French territory to properly file their asylum application.

A new examination procedure will now take place while applicants are detained at the border. The procedure will be required for foreigners who fall into three categories: those who provide false information, come from countries where the refugee status recognition rate stands at 20 percent or less, and are considered a security risk.

Other profiles may be subject to asylum examinations at the border in the future.

Unaccompanied minors exempt from the border procedure

The examination of an applicant’s asylum claim at the border must, in theory, be completed within 12 weeks. The foreigner is automatically refused entry on EU territory if their application is rejected. The asylum seeker can file an appeal to try to suspend the entry refusal. Yet if the appeal is rejected, deportations will be carried out within 12 weeks.

The pact has an important nuance: if the OFPRA rejects an application, the obligation to leave the French territory can be executed without waiting for a decision by the CNDA. Until now, appeals to the CNDA have always suspended deportations.

During the Senate hearing, Nunez confirmed that unaccompanied minors seeking asylum wouldn’t be subject to examinations at the border. Only the unaccompanied minors deemed as a security risk will be subject to checks, said Nunez. Only about 40 unaccompanied minors were registered at external borders in 2024, and the same statistic was registered in 2023, specified the minister.

The national French plan foresees making 615 accommodation spots available in accordance with the new asylum procedure at the border. Yet less than half of the housing units are currently ready. Nunez promised the creation of new spots by "the end of the year". In the meantime, other housing units will be made available, where foreigners will be placed under house arrest.

Though important details on France's future enactment of the pact are still lacking, the general direction is clear. The registration at the prefecture and the OFPRA appointment will be streamlined. “The stated objective is to recreate the same procedure as at the France Asylum center in Cergy-Pontoise, where these different steps are completed the same day, in the same location," said the minister.

The "France Asylum" center is a pilot project, foreseen under the 2024 immigration law otherwise known as the Darmanin law. Associations and unions have already voiced concern to InfoMigrants about a "conflict of interest" and "concern for independence" that comes with grouping the prefecture and OFPRA in the same center.

France to partially derogate from the EU's 'safe third country' rule

Nunez confirmed that France will partially derogate from the pact's "safe third country" rule. The notion allows member states to send asylum seekers to other countries that Europe considers "safe", as a way of outsourcing asylum.

Yet France will omit this clause of the pact “for constitutional reasons”, said Nunez. The Council of State has reiterated the obligation to individually evaluate all asylum demands on several occasions.

France to retain "Dublin returnees" as part of EU solidarity mechanism

Under the pact, EU member states will be required to share the burden of providing accommodation to asylum seekers. Of the 20,000 individuals to be distributed between EU states in 2026, France is responsible for 3,000, said Nunez.

France will take its share of asylum seekers through “Dublin offset”, meaning it will retain asylum seekers required to return to the EU country where they originally registered under the Dublin regulation. This country is often either Greece or Italy. The 3,000 individuals that France is responsible for accommodating have already been identified; they arrived in France between the autumn of 2024 and the summer of 2025.

The pact will also replace the Dublin regulation with a new set of rules called the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR). The latter will cut off reception conditions (like accommodation and allowances) to any foreigner subject to a Dublin transfer request.

Six months to apply the provisions to overseas departments

Beginning on June 12, the pact will also apply to France’s overseas departments and regions (DROM): Mayotte, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Saint-Martin.

The pact's regulations and directives, which are based on the Schengen Area, may not all apply to these departments, which are located outside this European area. Yet the bill presented by the government to be examined in parliament in May aims to give it the flexibility to adapt the same measures that apply to mainland France elsewhere.

The bill in question also provides for a six-month time frame for Paris to legislate by ordinance in these overseas departments and regions. Within nine months, the government would be authorized to issue new ordinances to adjust the rules in mainland France and the overseas departments. This would be based on legal obstacles and the experiences that arise from being tested on the ground.