The European Commission opened the process for the EU's 2027 migration solidarity pool on November 6, 2026, with its annual asylum and migration report. Recorded irregular crossings at the EU's external borders fell by 32% in the 12 months to June, yet the places where people arrived faced very different conditions. The report feeds into a decision by EU governments on what they will contribute next year. For countries running reception systems, the form of support matters: transferring an applicant changes which country handles a case, while money or staff can expand capacity where the pressure is felt.
Key facts
- The Commission compares July 2025 to June 2026 with the previous 12 months. The 32% decline concerns recorded irregular crossings of the EU's external borders.
- Over 64,000 people were brought ashore in the EU after search-and-rescue operations in that period. Italy accounted for 42% of those disembarkations.
- The Council set reference values of 21,000 relocations and €420 million for the first pool, which applies from June 12, 2026.
- The next step is for governments to make pledges in the EU solidarity forum before the Council sets the new pool.
Why falling crossings can leave reception systems under pressure
The Commission's report breaks the EU total down by route and destination. Greece registered fewer irregular crossings overall, but arrivals in Crete rose by 105%, to around 21,000, or close to half the national total. Arrivals across Greece's land border from Türkiye also rose, by 33%. A drop in the national figure can therefore coincide with a rise in the caseload at particular entry points. The same national total says little about where a government needs interpreters, accommodation or caseworkers.
| Country | Change in recorded irregular border crossings | Context in the Commission report |
|---|---|---|
| Greece | −23% | Highest relative to population and GDP in the EU |
| Italy | −28% | Highest absolute number of irregular arrivals in the EU |
| Cyprus | −34% | Third in the EU relative to population and GDP |
The table compares July 2025 to June 2026 with July 2024 to June 2025. The report treats disembarkations following search and rescue as a separate measure. That distinction matters for Italy, which received the largest share of people brought ashore after rescue in the reporting period. The first Council decision gives a concrete example of how this can affect support. It earmarked an indicative 42% of the 2026 pool's reference values for member states under pressure from recurring rescue disembarkations. That 42% was a share of the 2026 pool. Italy's 42% in the new report is a share of people disembarked across the EU during a different period.
What the first pool shows about national contributions
On December 19, 2025, the Council established the first pool with reference figures of 21,000 relocations and €420 million in financial contributions. It based those figures on the first cycle's June start and the uneven distribution of arrivals over the year. The decision's annex lists the pledges countries made. Germany's entry records 4,555 under relocation or other solidarity support, with a 21.6890% fair share. Belgium's entry instead lists a €12.92 million financial contribution. Those columns capture different ways to contribute, and Germany's entry does not give a count of people already relocated.
The Commission says governments have begun carrying out relocations and responsibility offsets under the first pool and have set aside financial contributions in national budgets for distribution at the beginning of 2027. A relocation moves an applicant from one country to another. An offset can instead count a country taking responsibility for an application already on its territory. The distinction affects what a reception authority has to do. One measure requires arranging a transfer, while the other changes which authority handles an existing case.
The report also describes a change in the data available to authorities. Member states have integrated the new Eurodac database into their national procedures and, according to the Commission, are using it to record applicants and irregular arrivals and to search for registrations made elsewhere. A search can connect a case with a prior registration. The Commission separately reports that putting responsibility transfers into practice still requires work across member states. For the pool, that is a practical distinction between identifying a case and being able to move it.
How the 2027 decision is made
Under the asylum and migration management regulation, the Commission assesses conditions and uses the findings to propose a pool for the coming year. Article 12 gives the standard EU-wide minimum reference figures for the proposal as 30,000 relocations and €600 million and provides a separate rule for exceptional situations where the evidence indicates no need for solidarity measures. The first Council decision explains why the 2026 figures reflected a shorter implementation period. The standard figures describe the legal framework, while the next Council decision will give the actual references and pledges for 2027.
The High-Level EU Solidarity Forum brings governments together to make their offers before the Council adopts the pool. The proposal is kept confidential until the Council adopts its act. When that act is available, the annex will show how each government intends to meet its share. For a country with a busy reception system, it is the mix of transfers, money and other support in that decision that will determine what help it can put to work.
