Brussels, 8 December (LaPresse) – The EU Council has agreed its position on two EU legislative acts that will strengthen the practical application of key safe country concepts in EU asylum rules. These new EU migration laws aim to establish faster and more effective asylum procedures for those who should not receive protection within the EU. The new regulation revising the concept of safe third countries will broaden the circumstances in which an asylum application can be rejected as inadmissible, the Council writes. The Council has also completed an important element of the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum by agreeing on the first common EU list of safe countries of origin, which will allow Member States to process applications for international protection in an accelerated manner. The concept of safe third country allows EU Member States to reject an asylum application as inadmissible (i.e. without examining its merits) when asylum seekers could have sought and, if eligible, obtained international protection in a third country considered safe for them.