(fra kommisjonsforslaget)

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

In accordance with Article 25a(2) of the Visa Code 1 , the Commission must at least once a year, assess third countries' cooperation on readmission and report to the Council.

Based on these assessments and taking into account the steps taken by the Commission to improve the level of cooperation in the field of readmission and the EU’s overall relations with the third country concerned, including in the field of migration, the Commission may conclude that the given third country does not cooperate sufficiently, and that action is therefore needed. If this is so, the Commission, in accordance with Article 25a(5), point (a), of the Visa Code, is to submit a proposal for a Council implementing decision temporarily suspending the application of certain provisions of the Visa Code in respect of nationals of that third country. At all times, the Commission is to continue its efforts to improve cooperation with the third country concerned.

•    The case of Guinea

In July 2017, the EU concluded a readmission arrangement with Guinea (“Good practices for the efficient operation of the return procedure”). Since then, seven Joint Working Group meetings took place to monitor the implementation of the arrangement, the last one on 19 December 2024. Due to the political situation in the country, engagement was put on hold in September 2021 and resumed in December 2023. Even though the Guinean authorities reaffirmed their intention to cooperate on readmission, they were not ready to commit to most of the concrete actions proposed by the EU to address the challenges in the operational cooperation. The issue of readmission cooperation was addressed at political level in Conakry during a meeting between the EU Ambassador in Guinea and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister on 15 October 2024 as well as in Brussels during several high-level meetings, like the visit of the Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs on 23 October 2023, Commission/ EEAS meetings with the Guinean Ambassador and the Minister of Foreign Affairs on 31 May and 26 June 2024, respectively.

Despite the existing readmission arrangement and the efforts to intensify engagement on readmission, cooperation has remained insufficient for most Member States and significantly deteriorated from the end of 2023 and throughout the 2024 assessment period. At the 6th and 7th Joint Working Group Meetings in July and December 2024, the European Union conveyed to Guinea clear messages about the need to improve cooperation and to fully implement the readmission arrangement, to effectively implement the agreed procedures for the identification of Guineans with no right to stay in the EU and to swiftly issue emergency travel documents upon positive identification for both voluntary and forced returns within the deadlines of the readmission arrangement. A list of pending readmission requests from 13 Member States and one Schengen-associated country was handed over to the Guinean authorities. These steps did not lead to an improvement in cooperation during the reporting period.

Guinea’s cooperation on readmission of its nationals found to be illegally staying on the territory of the Member States is insufficient, as substantiated by a return rate 2  of 3% in 2024 which is a decrease from 5% in 2023, by the significantly decreasing quality of cooperation in the identification procedure, by a decline in the issuance rate of emergency travel documents 3  and by the clear deterioration of cooperation regarding return operations. During the reporting period, Member States faced persistent and increasing challenges in effectively implementing the readmission arrangement with Guinea, in particular as regards undocumented cases. The insufficient level of cooperation of Guinea often also infringes upon the readmission-related provisions of the Samoa Agreement 4 , provisionally applicable as of 1 January 2024, including to Guinea, notably regarding the timeframe for issuance of emergency travel documents following the presentation of a request for identification.  

In the framework of continuous assessments carried out by the Commission since 2020 and based on data and information provided by Member States, discussions in the relevant Council Working Groups and expert group meetings, as well as assessments by other EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, Member States reported a number of persistent issues that hamper the different steps of the readmission process, including the identification of Guinean nationals, the issuance of travel documents and return operations. This has led to a very considerable backlog of cases for Member States.

On the basis of the above, the lack of improvement, despite the steps taken so far by the EU and its Member States to improve readmission cooperation, it is considered that Guinea’s cooperation with the EU on readmission is not sufficient.

•    The Union’s overall relations with Guinea

Guinea is one of the major countries of departure of irregular migrants to the EU. Despite a considerable decrease in irregular arrivals to the EU compared to 2023, in 2024 Guineans were still the eigth-largest identified nationality among the assessed countries, with 8 388 irregular arrivals.

The EU and Guinea maintain relations in the political, economic, trade and cooperation fields. These relations are now based on the Samoa Agreement between the European Union and its Member States and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.

The EU is Guinea’s largest market and supplier and remains a major economic partner.

In the area of trade, cooperation between Guinea and the EU is governed by the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) 5 . To note that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), adopted with countries in West Africa in July 2014, has not yet entered into force.

The geopolitical orientations of Guinea should also be considered with a view to a possible impact on migration issues.

On the basis of the above, given the lack of improvement despite continuous steps taken by the Commission to improve cooperation, and taking into account the EU’s overall relations with Guinea, it is considered that Guinea’s cooperation with the EU on readmission is not sufficient and that action is needed.