Country: World Source: European Union Please refer to the attached file. Situational Update No 22This report presents the state of play of EU+ countries implementing safe country concepts in the processing of asylum applications. The biannual overview is published in January and July. This report covers January-June 2025.Overview of the Implementation of Safe Country ConceptsThis biannual overview is published in January and July. This edition covers the period January-June 2025.In the context of asylum, the term 'safe country' refers to countries which generally do not generate protection needs for their people. European Union (EU) law provides four safe country concepts which can be applied in the asylum procedure: safe country of origin, safe third country, first country of asylum and European safe third country. These concepts are regulated in the recast Asylum Procedures Directive (APD).Currently, the implementation of the safe country concepts in EU+ countries is highly divergent. However, greater convergence is expected as the transposition of the safe country concept will become mandatory for all Member States under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will enter into application in June 2026. In particular, provisions regulating the safe country concepts are found in Section 5 of the Asylum Procedures Regulation (APR). The APR aims to establish common criteria for designating third countries as safe countries of origin, a common EU list of safe countries, as well as a common procedure for processing such applications. An overview of changes introduced by the APR are available in the following briefings by the European Parliamentary Research Service: 'Safe country of origin' concept in EU asylum law (May 2025) and Safe third country concept in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum (December 2024).This overview highlights developments between January and June 2025 concerning the implementation of the safe country of origin and safe third country concepts at the EU level and in EU+ countries. It also presents the state of play on the implementation of national lists of safe countries as of 30 June 2025, based on data available in the Who is Who in International Protection in the EU+ platform.