National governments and MEPs failed on Thursday to reach agreement on new EU deportation rules, in what had been expected to be the final round of talks.

Controversial proposals would allow governments to transfer rejected asylum seekers and irregular migrants – including families with children – to so-called “return hubs” outside the EU before deportation.

The negotiations broke down over the timing of the regulation’s application on Wednesday, and the issue that remained unresolved when talks resumed on Thursday morning.

The Council of EU, representing member states, initially pushed for a two-year delay to the regulation entering into force, except for the return hubs provisions, which would take effect immediately. Parliament demanded that the entire regulation should apply immediately.

During talks, national governments signalled they could accept a one-year delay. Negotiators will now seek to strike a provisional deal before the next negotiation

Other major sticking points had largely been settled, including the definition of “voluntary return”, and the mutual recognition of deportation orders across the bloc, and the extent to which migration policy should be integrated into the EU’s external relations.

A new meeting has been scheduled for 1 June, ahead of a meeting of EU home affairs ministers later that week. Negotiators had hoped to secure a deal in time for a plenary vote next month, coinciding with the final rollout of the EU’s broader asylum and migration pact.

“Everyone involved must now take their responsibility to do so,” said Malik Azmani, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator. “Europe cannot afford further delay on this file.”

François-Xavier Bellamy, the European People’s Party’s lead negotiator, criticised proposals to postpone implementation of the rules. “Given the urgency of the migration situation, we have firmly opposed proposals to delay its application by one or even two years,” he said. “Such delays are unjustifiable, especially now that agreement has been reached on the substance of the text.”

“This meeting was a parody of negotiations,” said Melissa Camara, Greens MEP lead on the file. “The negotiators agreed on a text that tramples on the fundamental rights of exiled people. Instead of fighting for a dignified and humane text, they chose to focus on a ridiculous battle over when the text would start applying,” she added.

The regulation was approved by the European Parliament in March with backing from a coalition of centrist-conservative and far-right groups, underlining the EU’s broader shift to the right on migration policy during the current Commission mandate. Socialists, Greens and the Left largely opposed the measure.

The negotiations have also exposed tensions within parliament. Azmani, a liberal lawmaker, was effectively sidelined as right-wing groups coordinated strategy separately, including through a WhatsApp group that later sparked controversy in Brussels.

(bw)