The European Parliament has approved a sweeping new return regulation giving member states greater powers to deport irregular migrants and establish return hubs outside the bloc. It is a framework Giorgia Meloni says vindicates Italy’s controversial Albania model.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared a “major success” for Italy on Wednesday after the European Parliament gave final approval to the EU’s new Return Regulation. It is a measure she described as the direct result of her government’s work.
Speaking in a video posted to social media from Evian, where she was attending the G7 summit, Meloni said the regulation would allow the EU to “quickly repatriate those who are not entitled to stay.” She explicitly credited Italy’s Albania migrant centre protocol as the blueprint now adopted across the bloc.
“An innovative solution that the Italian and European Left attempted to oppose at all costs,” Meloni said, “has now become a tool available to the whole of Europe.”
What the return Regulation contains
The new law allows EU countries to establish deportation centres outside the bloc, known as return hubs, through agreements with non-EU countries. These hubs could serve either as transit facilities where people await return to their country of origin, or as locations where migrants remain for an extended period.
Only unaccompanied minors are exempt from the return hub measure, while families with children could be transferred to the hubs. The package also provides for detention of up to two years for migrants who fail to comply with expulsion orders, pose a security risk, or are considered at risk of absconding.
The regulation also introduces a mutual recognition and enforcement obligation between member states regarding deportation orders, meaning migrants cannot circumvent return decisions by moving to a different EU country and restarting the process.
The legislation passed by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions, with the centre-right EPP aligning with the ECR and far-right groupings to secure the majority. Left-wing and Socialist MEPs largely opposed the measure, arguing it risked undermining migrants’ fundamental rights.
Albania model goes European
Italy has operated two migrant processing centres in Albania under a bilateral protocol that has been repeatedly challenged in Italian courts. The new EU-wide framework is expected to provide a legal foundation that could help the scheme overcome some of the judicial hurdles that have limited its operation.
The regulation is not formally part of the EU Migration Pact, which entered into force last week, but is intended to complement it after member states and right-wing parties criticised the Pact for failing to address shortcomings in the area of returns. Although the return rate increased to 28% in 2025 — the highest in a decade — the number of effective returns has remained too low by the Commission’s own assessment.
Interest in the Albania model has spread beyond the EU. The UK has also looked to the scheme as an alternative following the Labour government’s decision to abandon the previous Conservative administration’s Rwanda deportation policy.
The regulation will not become legally binding until the Council formally adopts the final text, potentially at its meeting later this month, and publishes it in the Official Journal. Some provisions, including those relating to return hubs, will apply immediately once that occurs; others requiring preparatory steps may take up to a year to come into effect. Full implementation is expected by 1 July 2027.
