European Union Member States have a shared responsibility to give protection to asylum-seekers, to ensure they receive fair treatment and their cases are examined according to uniform standards. The common European asylum system (CEAS) establishes common standards for Member State procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection. A critical aspect of a common approach to international protection is the application of the 'safe country of origin' concept. In the context of refugees, the term 'safe country of origin' (SCO) has been used to refer to countries whose citizens should not, in theory, be granted international protection, since those countries are widely regarded as safe. The concept can refer to the automatic exclusion from refugee status of nationals originating from SCOs, or it can raise a presumption of safety that those nationals must rebut. Several international and regional human rights bodies have either raised concerns about the use of the SCO concept or proposed appropriate safeguards to ensure that the fundamental rights of persons in genuine need of international protection, but who originate from SCOs, are respected. At EU level, the concept has gradually developed as part of the CEAS, culminating in the adoption of the provisions on the common EU list of SCOs. Many Member States have already established national SCO lists. With the new asylum legislation, transposition of the SCO concept will be mandatory for all Member States, which will also be able to retain or introduce national SCO lists other than those designated at EU level. This is an update of a 2025 EPRS briefing. Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP Read more