Pushed by member states, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Commission will propose new rules to facilitate the deportation of irregular migrants.
In a letter to the bloc ahead of a meeting of EU leaders where migration will be high on the agenda, the German politician promised reforms to "streamline the process of returns".
Here are a few facts on the current migrant system and efforts to change it:
What are the current rules?
Deportations are largely regulated by the so-called "Return Directive" of 2008.
The text established common standards and procedures for returns to be carried out transparently and respecting fundamental rights.
It set up a gradual process, allowing for appeals and time for rejected asylum seekers to voluntarily return to their country of origin.
Coercive measures are permitted only as a "last resort" and detentions authorised only in a few cases.
Adopted after three years of negotiations, the text was criticised by rights groups at the time.
It has been followed by a landmark migration pact this year, that envisaged accelerated deportations. But many states feel it did not go far enough.
Who wants to change them?
Fifteen countries, including France, Germany, and Italy, recently signed a proposal by Austria and the Netherlands to improve "the efficiency" of the system.
Last year, less than 20 percent of the almost 500,000 people ordered to leave the bloc were returned to their country of origin, according to Eurostat, the EU statistical office.
At a meeting of interior ministers last week, Belgium's secretary of state for asylum and migration Nicole de Moor described the return system as "the weakest link" in the chain.
France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, known for a hardline stance on migration, has said the 2008 directive makes "returns almost impossible".
In her letter, von der Leyen seemed to agree, saying the EU needs "a new legal framework to step up our capacity to act".
What's the timeline?
There is no clear timeframe for the process and no guarantee a reform will be agreed on.
The new European Commission team is yet to take office and revising a directive entails a long back and forth between member states and the European parliament.
In her letter, von der Leyen mentions the controversial idea of developing deportation centres outside the EU, something Spain has already said it is opposed to.
A proposal to revise the same directive launched in 2018 never came to fruition due to disagreements over what remains a subject fraught with legal and ethical issues.
But some observers believe this initiative will be different.
What's the context?
Irregular border crossings into the European Union reached the highest level in nearly a decade in 2023 -- but numbers are down more than 40 percent this year, according to the EU border agency, Frontex.
Yet, hard-right parties often riding anti-immigrant sentiment performed strongly in June European elections and have topped recent national and regional votes in the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
France also tilted to the right after a vote this summer -- helping create a ripe political environment for a tightening of migration rules.
On Monday von der Leyen said the EU will draw lessons from a deal Italy's hard-right government struck with Albania to hold and process migrants there.
Such discussions were "impossible" at an EU level a few years ago, but the debate has since shifted to the right, a European official said.
"The mood in the room has changed," Dutch migration minister Marjolein Faber, of the nationalist populist Party for Freedom (PVV), said last week.