JAVIER ZARZALEJOS CHAIRS LIBE COMMITTEE MEETING

Javier Zarzalejos, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), chaired a new meeting of the Committee in Brussels, during which members addressed the recruitment of minors by organised crime, the presentation of the European Union Agency for Asylum’s (EUAA) Asylum Report 2026, and ongoing legislative procedures.

New rapporteurs for the Eurojust and Europol Regulations

At the beginning of the meeting, Zarzalejos announced the appointment of Francesco Assis (S&D) as rapporteur for the new Eurojust Regulation and Tomas Tobé (EPP) as rapporteur for the new Europol Regulation, two key legislative files aimed at strengthening judicial and police cooperation within the Union.

Minors and organised crime: exchange with the Commission, Europol, FRA and Save the Children

The Committee held an exchange of views on preventing the recruitment of children and young people by organised crime, with the participation of Olivier Onidi (DG HOME, European Commission), Jean-Yves Goriou (Europol), Joanna Goodey (FRA) and Angelica Andersson (Save the Children Sweden, by videoconference), followed by questions from the political groups.

Presentation of the EUAA Asylum Report 2026

Nina Gregori, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), presented the Asylum Report 2026 to the Committee. The report covers 2025 and the beginning of 2026, a period during which Member States prepared for the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, in force since 12 June 2026. The report is drawn up pursuant to Article 69 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303, which established the EUAA as a fully-fledged agency in 2022, replacing the former European Asylum Support Office (EASO), with a strengthened mandate to support Member States in implementing the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), including operational and technical assistance to national systems under greater pressure.

The report records a sustained decline in asylum applications in the EU+: around 820,000 in 2025, representing a 20% year-on-year fall, followed by a further 17% decrease during the first half of 2026. This was driven mainly by the decline in Syrian applications following the fall of the Assad regime, although partly offset by an increase in applications from Afghan women following a CJEU ruling recognising gender and nationality as sufficient grounds for protection. Spain accounts for almost all of the increase in Venezuelan applications, while France and Italy lead in absolute numbers, and Greece and Cyprus face the greatest pressure relative to their populations. Since 31 July, a working arrangement between the EUAA and Eurostat has made the agency the single entry point for European statistics on international protection.

At operational level, the EUAA has deployed 116 support products across all stages of the Pact process — border management, asylum, relocation and Eurodac — and launched the first pilot solidarity transfer: 30 Somali and Sudanese applicants were transferred from Cyprus to Romania on 25 August, with further operations planned to Bulgaria and Lithuania. The agency has produced information materials in 64 languages and updated 32 training modules, with almost 40,000 participations recorded between January and July 2026.

With regard to governance and fundamental rights, Gregori noted that the EUAA is prohibited from directly training NGOs or civil society organisations, as its regulatory mandate is limited to public administration staff. She also explained that, despite an annual budget considered sufficient — approximately €250 million — difficulties remain in staffing operational deployments with the agency’s own personnel, making it necessary to rely on external and internal experts and creating a notable asymmetry compared with agencies such as Frontex. The agency’s largest deployment remains in Greece, with more than 700 personnel, overseen by the Fundamental Rights Officer, whose complaints mechanism has so far processed five admissible complaints.

Electronic vote on the 2027 budget

The meeting concluded with an electronic vote on the LIBE Committee’s amendments to the European Union’s general budget for the 2027 financial year, following the deadline for tabling amendments on 15 July. Zarzalejos closed the meeting by announcing that the Committee’s next meeting would take place in Brussels on 28 September.