(Strasbourg) Conflicts, migration, budget, the Sakharov Prize are some of the items on the agenda of the plenary meeting of the European Parliament, convened in Strasbourg as from this afternoon to 24th October. In particular, on Wednesday morning, the MEPs will discuss with the EU Commission potential changes in the legislation on repatriation of third-country nationals who cannot stay in the EU. A topic that has been particularly interesting in the aftermath of the Italy-Albania issue on migrants. In July 2024, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had informed Parliament that “more work was necessary on a common approach on returns”, to be prepared under the responsibility of the future Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration. As no agreement was reached on an update of the return directive proposal from 2018, MEPs are expected to debate how to improve the existing rules and their application “in order to increase the return rates of those third-country nationals not entitled to stay in the EU”. It is likely, as stated by the EU Parliament in a release, “they will stress the importance of cooperation with third countries, including on readmitting their own nationals”. “The debate comes as the EU and its member states prepare to apply the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Other issues expected to be raised are the recently announced plan by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to allow the right to request asylum to be temporarily suspended in certain cases, as well as the Italian programme to ship asylum applicants rescued at sea to centres in Albania while they await a decision on their requests”.