Read the full story by me and Vincenzo Genovese on @euronews.com www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Other member states, such as Portugal and Spain raised "doubts" from a legal and operational point of view, while others, such as Ireland and Belgium, "emphasised the need of measures to be realistic and workable and respect fundamental rights,” according to the minutes.

The return hubs proposal was welcomed and described "as a possible deterrence for irregular migration" by “Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, and Malta”.

Commissioner @magnusbrunner.bsky.social proposed "stronger rules on detention" and the "possibility of developing return hubs" during an informal meeting with EU ministers, according to minutes seen by @euronews.com.

The @ec.europa.eu is set to include ‘return hubs’ located outside the bloc's borders from which migrants can be returned to their home states in an upcoming legislative proposal to speed up the return of rejected asylum seekers.

Read the full story here 👇https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/17/exclusive-eu-plans-to-slash-80-worldwide-development-offices-in-refocus

But INPTA's work abroad has “basically disappeared” according to one of the sources, who said that there is now a change of focus from cooperation and local development, towards fostering trade relations and business activities.

Budget constraints and changing geopolitical priorities are touted as reasons for the Commission to centralise the DG to bring it more under the control of headquarters in Brussels, the sources said.

Two sources told @euronews that the switch is designed to concentrate decision-making in Brussels rather than in its regional branches.

“The current set-up is not fit for the purpose of delivering on Global Gateway and its investment packages, and developing portfolio linked to the growing importance of the external dimension of EU policies and its impact on the partner countries," says the doc.

The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INPTA) is planning to slash more than four in five of its hubs worldwide - reducing from around 100 delegations to 18 hubs - according to a document seen by Euronews.

Full story here: www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Bashar al-Assad and its affiliates cannot benefit from the lifting and will still be subjected to sanctions, according to the document.

The paper has been produced by the EU Council for negotiations and is expected to be substantively discussed and potentially agreed during a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on 27 January.

“Any delisting of the group would have to be condition-based, to prevent any risk of terrorism financing and to ensure that Syria does not turn into a place for terrorist groups which foreign fighters would wish to join".

The non-paper also says that any possible delisting as terrorist groups of Al-Qaeda related factions such as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), must be decided at @UN Security Council level before being implemented by the EU.