ECJ Doing Everything It Can to Thwart a Working Migration Model

The European Court of Justice's (ECJ) recent ruling has once again created obstacles for member states in the area of migration policy, according to Viktor Marsai, Executive Director of the Migration Research Institute and lecturer at the National University of Public Service. He believes that judicial activism will ultimately render the European Union incapable of establishing an effective asylum system.

On August 14, off the coast of Lampedusa, at least 27 people — including a one-year-old girl and three teenagers — died when two migrant boats capsized. Dozens went missing, while 60 survivors were rescued and brought ashore by the Italian authorities. (Photo: AFP)

In its ruling this August, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that Italy had violated EU law by classifying certain countries as safe. Viktor Marsai argued that this decision once again demonstrates the activist attitude of the Court, which effectively grants unlimited rights to asylum seekers while overriding the clear and well-intentioned efforts of a member state seeking to make its overwhelmed asylum system more efficient.

 The building of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg

As he explained, the case of the Italian-Albanian centers concerned migrants rescued at sea in international waters, who were to be taken to Albania, where their asylum applications would have been processed in accelerated procedures in reception centers. Only those who came from countries listed as safe third states would have been placed in these centers.

It was never about automatically sending them back — they could still have submitted their applications, but through a fast-track process designed to reduce pressure on the asylum system. Yet even this was rejected by the ECJ. The humanitarian fundamentalism displayed by the Court in recent years continues unabated, 

he emphasized.

According to the expert, Giorgia Meloni’s Albanian model exists in a legal gray zone, as the current legal framework does not provide a clear answer. Viktor Marsai recalled that Ylva Johansson, the former EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Justice, had previously said that the model was acceptable. He also noted that it remains legally unclear whether EU law should even apply to people rescued at sea. "Nevertheless," he said,  "the ECJ, with one sweeping move, declared that this applies to asylum seekers, and that was the end of the matter."

He warned that this is problematic because it undermines the efforts of member states to reduce the number of arrivals by deterring, for instance, those who are very unlikely to qualify for international protection.

These centers were intended precisely for that purpose: to discourage people who would most likely be sent home within a short period from embarking on this dangerous journey and from paying thousands of dollars to human smugglers, only to end up in Albania,

he explained.

The current practice, however, achieves the opposite. As Viktor Marsai noted, today anyone who arrives — regardless of the country of origin — faces a prolonged procedure. They are not transferred to Albania but brought to mainland Italy. "From that point on, the individual is physically within the territory of the European Union, and it becomes highly uncertain when, if at all, deportation will take place, given that their asylum application is almost certain to be rejected.

🇮🇹🇪🇺Italy plan to process migrants in Albania dealt blow by EU court

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Italy’s system for designating “safe countries” for asylum processing breaches EU law, dealing a setback to its offshore migration deal with Albania.

Under… pic.twitter.com/GnBRWYISjb

— tut0ugh (@tut0ugh) August 2, 2025

According to Viktor Marsai, the trend is clear, but judicial practice now represents the single greatest obstacle. He recalled that the European Commission has already submitted two legislative packages: one on the concept of safe third countries, and another on deportations and reception centers. "These are being heavily debated, and the process will be a long one," he said. "There are forward-looking elements in the first draft, but how much of that will survive in the final version, and to what extent the proposal will be watered down, are questions about which we cannot be overly optimistic."

NGOs have described the Albanian model as a European version of the Rwanda plan, yet Viktor Marsai emphasized that despite the similarities, there are also important differences. He pointed out that reaching EU territory from Albania is relatively easy, whereas from Rwanda it would be far more difficult.

The pattern is similar,” he said. “In the case of Rwanda as well, various courts — whether the European Court of Human Rights or the British Supreme Court — kept coming up with increasingly impossible conditions until, eventually, the British government threw in the towel. From this perspective, the same thing is happening now,

 he added.

Viktor Marsai stressed that the greatest problem lies in how the pro-migration side invokes these court rulings as precedents, claiming that such solutions are impossible and that it is pointless and unnecessary to try. "It is now perfectly clear," he said, "that there is a deliberate effort to prevent the emergence of any functional migration model, because once such a model succeeded, the vast majority of member states would immediately adopt it."

Finally, he noted that

the new EU migration pact would introduce a common list of safe countries. However, in light of the ECJ’s recent decisions, Vikotor Marsai believes that this list is bound to become the subject of disputes and legal proceedings.

"Just look at the countries involved," he added. "For example, Egypt or Bangladesh, which, according to the ECJ, cannot be considered safe third countries. We have practically reached a point where, with the exception of Japan and South Korea, there is not a single country in the world that the European Union can consider to be a safe third country without a doubt. This makes it quite difficult to develop any sensible or workable solution," concluded the Executive Director of the Migration Research Institute.

Cover photo: On August 14, off the coast of Lampedusa, at least 27 people — including a one-year-old girl and three teenagers — died when two migrant boats capsized. Dozens went missing, while 60 survivors were rescued and brought ashore by the Italian authorities. (Photo: AFP)