EC Press point by Commissioner Magnus BRUNNER on the second Annual Migration Management Cycle
6 November 2026
Contents updated on 6 Nov 2026
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European Commission
Follow its sittings00:00 - 00:14
Speaker 2
Good morning everybody and welcome to our press point on the second annual migration management cycle under the pact on migration and asylum. We have Commissioner Brunner here with us and I give the floor directly to the Commissioner. You have the floor.
00:14 - 03:12
Speaker 1
Thank you very much and good morning to everyone. Yeah, as you said we are launching today the second annual migration management cycle, so we are delivering actually on a core component of the pact on migration and asylum, and it actually builds on the very positive results that we achieved during the last two years, notably the significant decrease of illegal migration to the European Union. And it also confirms that our new approach on migration with the new legal framework, with a stronger border protection, with new rules on returns, of course, also and also, which is very important, a more active migration diplomacy, that all this together, all these reforms together, deliver the results. And with the annual cycle we provide a yearly, as you know, a yearly overview of the asylum and migration situation in the European Union and it's also to assess the migratory situation in the member states and also to ensure that the balance between responsibility and solidarity, of course, keeps going. We also proposed the annual solidarity pool for 2027.
So, as I said, our reforms are delivering, our new approach on migration is delivering strong results. Illegal migration is down. Asylum applications are down. Unauthorised movements within the European Union are down, and returns are going up. The numbers actually prove it.
As we know, illegal migration went down by 55% in the last two years and another third this year already. And to give you a concrete example, the Western Balkan route, for instance, which was the most challenging route in the past is down by 95% in the last years, Western African, Central Mediterranean route down 80% in the last years. So, you can also see the effects actually on the member states themselves. Just to give you a couple of examples there: Sweden has the lowest numbers ever recorded; Denmark the lowest numbers in 40 years; Austria returns more people than you have asylum applications for the first time actually in over two decades; Germany, in Germany the asylum applications are down 80% compared to two years ago. So, the numbers are quite clear there.
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