The Drafting Group on the safe third country concept (CDDH-PTS) held its second meeting in Strasbourg from 23-25 September 2025.
The Group held an exchange of views with Nina BRENNAN, Policy Officer, DG Home, European Commission; Ophélie MARREL, Chair of ENNHRI Working Group on Asylum and Migration and Legal Adviser at the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH); and Eleonora TESTI, Senior Legal Officer, European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). In addition, the Group heard Andreas WISSNER, Representative to the European institutions in Strasbourg, UNHCR, presenting the new UNHCR guidance on “International agreements for the transfer of refugees and asylum-seekers,” and Christian MOMMERS, Adviser to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, presenting the Commissioner’s new report on “Externalised asylum and migration policies and human rights law.”
During the meeting, the Group held discussions on the legal and political context relating to possible updating of the 1997 Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation No. R 97 (22) containing guidelines on the application of the safe third country concept, evaluated the content of the 1997 Recommendation, and examined proposed draft elements for the structure of the draft study.
The CDDH-PTS is tasked with preparing a draft study on the need for and the feasibility of updating the 1997 Recommendation, by 30 June 2026.
The third meeting of the CDDH-PTS will be held in Paris from 19-21 November 2025.
