Name: EC Midday press briefing of 12/11/2026
Uploaded: 2026-11-12T11:39:49+00:00
Duration: 410 s

EC Midday press briefing of 12/11/2026

12 November 2026

Contents updated at 07:32

Euronews asks what the EU is offering Nigeria in return for signing the readmission agreement; the Commission outlines the agreement’s purpose (rapid return of those with no right to stay), places it in the wider migration and security partnership, cites the growing overall EU return rate and the new EU Return Regulation, and stresses this is not a transactional deal but implementation of Nigeria’s international obligation to readmit its own nationals in a safe and dignified way.

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 European Commission

Follow its sittings

00:00 - 00:23

Speaker 7

Good morning, Vincenzo Genovese from Euronews. This week, EU and Nigeria signed a readmission agreement for migrants. I would like to know if we can have some details on that, especially what the EU is giving to Nigeria to take back their nationals. Thank you very much.

00:23 - 02:05

Speaker 4

Thank you very much for the question. As a matter of fact, earlier this week, Commissioner Brunner and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria signed the first EU-Nigeria readmission agreement. This is good news. The EU-Nigeria readmission agreement would establish rapid and effective procedures for identifying and returning those without the legal right to stay. With this agreement, we also build on a stronger and comprehensive partnership on migration and security that we have with Nigeria and that is ongoing with Nigeria.

We also have readmission agreements in place with 24 countries already, and once concluded, this will bring it to 25. Cooperation with international partners and migration diplomacy is key for EU migration policy. Our work is already showing results. The return rate has been increasing over the past year. We are now at over 30% this year so far.

And what's also important to underline in this context is as of now we have the EU return regulation in place since mid-October. It's actually final and in the journal, in the official journal. And this new return regulation also equips member states with new tools to make returns faster and more effective. Now Vincenzo, I think you also asked about whether this is a blueprint for similar agreements. Now as I've said, we have already a number of agreements and also arrangements in place.

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