The EU and the Government of India met regularly in the EU-India High Level Dialogue on Migration and Mobility and established a common agenda on migration and mobility in 2016. In the area of irregular migration, the EU and India have agreed to ”explore the possibilities of a readmission agreement”15, although no tangible progress has been made so far. The Court examined the agreements concluded for the countries covered by the Court`s audit and the reports of the JRC/GTM in order to assess their effectiveness in improving cooperation on readmission. We found that the EURA/agreements covered most of the common obstacles to smooth readmission. The notable exceptions were: the transfer of the person concerned must take place within three months of the approval of the application. The Pakistani authorities and the authorities of the Member State shall agree on the date of surrender, the border crossing point and any person accompanying it. In 2016, the Commission and the EEAS produced ”joint non-papers to improve cooperation on migration, mobility and readmission” for 16 key countries of origin and/or transit. He described the possible elements of an EU package with positive and negative incentives to support the negotiations. Member States were invited to contribute, but discussions21 on the packages were inconclusive. Since then, no similar exercise has taken place. (b) any other protective or precautionary measures that may be necessary in the individual case of readmission. The qualitative questionnaire contained 14 detailed questions on readmission cooperation for each of the 39 third countries. One of the questions concerned compliance with the deadlines for issuing travel documents set out in readmission agreements.
However, data on the actual (average) duration of the process was not collected. In obtaining a mandate/authorisation from the Council to open negotiations on a EURA/arrangement, the Commission did not simultaneously seek agreement with Member States in the Council on possible incentives and instruments to support the negotiations, nor did it outline a ”tailor-made support package” when opening negotiations with third countries. Some third countries were reluctant to participate in the negotiations because they did not see a clear added value in pursuing a EURA in relation to bilateral cooperation with Member States. This is particularly true for North African countries, which have benefited from generous bilateral agreements with some Member States. All beneficiary countries must respect the principles of 15 fundamental conventions on human and labour rights. To obtain other benefits, eligible countries must also comply with 12 conventions on environmental and governance principles37. There are no conditions for cooperation on migration management and readmission. To compensate for the lack of available data, the Commission, in collaboration with Frontex, launched a data collection in January 2020, which was accompanied by detailed qualitative questionnaires on the state of readmission cooperation between Member States and 39 third countries of interest. Since the revision of the Visa Code in 2019, the Commission is required to regularly assess readmission cooperation between third countries on the basis of reliable data. This regular evaluation has the potential to improve data collection and exchange in the EU and facilitate evidence-based policy decisions in the area of readmission cooperation. The lack of an equivalent procedure for collecting data on readmission cooperation in the past, combined with gaps in return data, has prevented us from assessing the overall impact of EU measures to improve readmission cooperation with third countries. The Contracting Parties take note of the close relations between the European Community and Iceland and Norway, in particular on the basis of the Agreement of 18 May 1999 on the association of those countries with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis.
In those circumstances, Pakistan should conclude a readmission agreement with Iceland and Norway under the same conditions as that agreement. 2. The requested State may withdraw its consent if continued travel to a State of transit or readmission by the State of destination is no longer guaranteed. In that case, the requesting State shall take back the third-country national or stateless person at its own expense. In the field of international relations, countries usually negotiate agreements for the mutual benefit. On the other hand, readmission agreements, although reciprocal, can be considered by third countries to be mainly beneficial for the EU. In addition, such agreements (and forced repatriations) can be a source of public hostility in some countries. This is because remittances from the diaspora (which includes irregular migrants) can provide a livelihood for entire communities, are an important source of foreign exchange and go far beyond official development assistance. This is the case for seven countries in our sample (Figure 8). These considerations may have an impact on the views and perceptions of third countries with regard to readmission agreements and also indicate that the EU needs to develop incentives to support readmission negotiations. The Commission should assess, in the initial phase, whether all newly proposed agreements, instruments and policies concerning third countries can be used as incentives for migration management and readmission cooperation.
4. Where none of the documents listed in Annexes I or II can be produced, the competent authority of the requesting State and the diplomatic or consular mission of the requested State shall, on request, arrange for the examination without delay of the person whose application for readmission has been submitted. On the other hand, the lack of a common approach and parallel negotiations on bilateral agreements between the main Member States may have hindered, for example, the opening of EU negotiations with Algeria22. These positive experiences with Visa`s leverage mechanism prompted Coreper to develop a ”global leverage mechanism”45. It is an informal mechanism for general cooperation aimed at activating different policy areas (which fall within the competence of the EU and/or the Member States) in order to improve cooperation between third countries on returns and readmissions. At the time of the audit, the mechanism had not yet been used. We found that the content of the EU readmission agreements and arrangements that have been concluded has removed most of the common obstacles to the relaxation of readmission. In this context, joint committees or working groups on readmission have provided forums for the regular evaluation of readmission cooperation. However, the recurrent nature of some of the topics discussed showed that there were limits to their effectiveness. The effective return of irregular migrants requires that the EU`s return policy has an effective ”internal dimension”, namely the identification and location of irregular migrants, the return of rejected asylum seekers and the implementation of Member States` return decisions. As the Court has already examined this internal dimension of the EU13`s return policy, this audit focused exclusively on cooperation with third countries in the field of readmission. The Commission, with the support of the EEAS, has successfully negotiated the three non-legally binding readmission regimes under consideration (Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Guinea).
Technical issues that posed a challenge during the negotiations included the use of EUTD (in all three cases) and charter flights (two cases). Bottlenecks have been resolved at political level through positive incentives, alignment with Member States (including joint high-level missions between the EU and Member States, see paragraph 45) and, in one case, the possibility of applying visa restrictions. Without prejudice to the right of the competent authorities of the requesting State to recover the costs of readmission from the person to be readmitted or from third parties, all transport costs incurred in the context of readmission and transit operations under this Agreement shall be borne by the requesting State to the border of the State of final destination. In the event of erroneous readmission, these costs shall be borne by the State responsible for taking back the person concerned in accordance with Article 10. 5 Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (`the Cotonou Agreement`), Article 13(5)(c)(i)). The revised Visa Code (see paragraph 51) requires the Commission `to regularly assess cooperation between third countries on readmission on the basis of reliable data at least once a year`68. The indicators concern: All EU READMISSION AGREEMENTS concern detailed procedures for the identification, redocumentation and readmission of nationals illegally in the territory of the other Contracting Parties. Many of the agreements also apply, subject to different conditions: 1. The application for readmission shall be submitted to the competent authority of the requested State within a maximum period of one year after the competent authority of the requesting State becomes aware that a third-country national or a stateless person does not fulfil or no longer fulfils the applicable entry conditions, of presence or stay. Where there are legal or factual obstacles to the timely submission of the application, the time limit shall be extended upon request, but only until the obstacles cease to exist.
2. The readmission obligation referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply where: this new procedure has the potential to improve EU readmission cooperation with third countries: visa policy is inextricably linked to migration management and, as such, is particularly suitable for use to improve readmission cooperation with third countries. . . .