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On 11 June 2026, the Advocate General Laila Medina delivered her opinion in the Joined Cases C-706/25 and C-707/25 (Comeri and Sidilli). The cases concerned the compatibility of the Italian legislation implementing the Italy–Albania bilateral agreement, which allows the transfer of third-country nationals to detention facilities located in Albanian territory for the purposes of asylum border and return procedures, with EU law, in particular with Directive 2013/32/EU (the recast ‘Asylum Procedures Directive’ (APD)), Directive 2013/33/EU (the recast Reception Conditions Directive (RCD)), and Article 3(2) TFEU.

The Advocate General considered that EU law does not preclude Member States from locating detention facilities for asylum applicants outside the territory of the European Union, provided that those facilities are under the effective and exclusive jurisdiction of that Member State. In such circumstances, the areas concerned must be regarded as falling within the “territory of a Member State” for the purposes of Directives 2013/32 and 2013/33, which therefore apply in full.

She recalled that the grounds for detention listed in Article 8(3) of RCD are exhaustive, and Member States may not introduce additional grounds for detention. She considered that the Italian legislation relied on grounds already recognised by EU law and therefore did not infringe that requirement. However, the Protocol and the implementing legislation are liable to alter the effectiveness of several procedural guarantees harmonised by EU law. In particular, concerns arise regarding the access to legal assistance and judicial protection because of the geographical separation between lawyers and applicants and the systematic use of remote hearings, the confidentiality of lawyer–client communications, the reimbursement for lawyers’ travel costs to Albania, and the rights of communication and visiting for family members.  The Advocate General noted that applicants cannot leave the Albanian facilities by their own means and the legislation does not regulate their return transfer to Italy. This is at odds with the requirement under Directive 2013/33 that detention ceases immediately once its validity ends.

She therefore concluded that detention outside EU territory is not, in itself, incompatible with EU law. However, Article 3(2) TFEU precludes Member States from concluding  international agreements and adopting national ratification and enforcement measures which alter the practical scope of the minimum procedural guarantees harmonised by Article 9(3), (4) and (6) of Directive 2013/33, read in conjunction with Article 22(1) of Directive 2013/32, interpreted in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union.