Ruling hurts European efforts to externalise migration

Significance The decision is a major blow to the nascent Italian-Albanian migration pact, which permits Italy to process the deportation of unsuccessful asylum seekers in Albanian territory, where they wait until repatriation. The Italian government has introduced a decree aimed at challenging the court decision. Impacts The European Commission could decide to include migration policy in future trade and economic deals with third countries. Legal challenges over immigration risk further undermining the support for the primacy of EU law in Italy. The falling arrival numbers of irregular migrants are unlikely to weaken the political importance of immigration for voters and parties.