News

Europol published EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) 2025, which reveals how crime in the EU is shifting and reshaping the tactics, tools and structures employed by criminal networks.

On 17 March, the Commission convened the second meeting of the High-Level Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Committee, where priorities for the future Union resettlement and humanitarian efforts were discussed, along with the the first-ever Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Plan.

In 2024, the EU took several actions to protect its citizens from threats both inside and outside its borders. The EU continued to boost European security and defence and introduced new measures to combat human trafficking, drug trafficking and organised crime.

The EU's investment in security research and innovation has supported technological advancements, strengthened policies, and created real impact across Europe. A new study takes stock of 20 years of EU-funded security research, highlighting its economic, societal, and technological significance.

The Commission has selected 13 projects, involving 163 participants from 22 EU countries and two non-EU countries. The projects will help strengthen the protection of public spaces such as shopping malls, public transportation, entertainment venues and places of worship.

The Commission’s proposal for a Common European System for Returns lays out a new legal framework allowing for swifter, simpler and more effective return procedures across the Union, for non-EU nationals who have no legal right to stay in the EU after receiving a return decision from an EU country.

11 March marks the European Remembrance Day for Victims of Terrorism - an annual commemoration established by the EU after the Madrid bombings of 11 March 2004 which took the lives of 193 people and injured thousands more. 

EU Home Affairs Ministers endorsed a revised timeline for the implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). The EES is expected to become operational in October 2025. ETIAS is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026.

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) released its latest analysis on asylum trends, showing that the number of asylum applications in the 29 EU+ countries decreased by 11%, from 1 143 437 in 2023 to 1  014  420 in 2024.