At the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 5 March 2025, Home Affairs Ministers focused, among other things, on two key issues: the operational rollout of EU border management systems and measures for the return of Syrian nationals.

In the field of EU border management, Ministers agreed on a joint position on a Regulation to progressively implement the Entry/Exit System (EES), an IT system for registering the entry and exit into the Schengen area of non-EU nationals who are travelling to the EU for a short stay. They also approved a revised roadmap for the roll-out of the interoperability architecture, an interconnected system of IT tools used for border management and law enforcement. According to the roadmap, (i) the EES will start in a progressive manner in October 2025, (ii) the revised Eurodac, a biometric database for asylum seeker identification, will become operational in June 2026, and (iii) the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be launched in the final quarter of 2026.

Regarding the return of Syrian nationals, many Member States expressed support for go-and-see visits, enabling Syrians in the EU to assess the situation in their home country without losing their protection status. Several ministers also backed the creation of an EU framework for these visits. Additionally, there was broad agreement that solutions must be found for the return of Syrian nationals who pose a security threat or have been convicted of crimes.

For further details, please read the press release from the Council of the EU.