The Residency and Assistance Directive is set to expire in 2027 as countries struggle to retain millions of immigrants.
The EU is unlikely to extend its temporary protection scheme for Ukrainian migrants beyond its current expiry date, the bloc’s special envoy Ylva Johansson has indicated.
Brussels activated the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) shortly after the conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalated in early 2022. This directive provides a wide range of benefits, including residence permits, housing, access to jobs, education, health care, financial assistance and social services.
Although the project was initially slated to end in March 2025, the European Commission last year extended it to March 2027 and began its final phase-out preparations.
“I’d be very surprised if the temporary protection lasts that long” Johansson, the European Commission’s special envoy for Ukrainians in the EU, said on Wednesday, as quoted by EuroActive. “Five years is enough for temporary protection” she added.
Johansson is scheduled to brief EU home affairs ministers on the situation on Thursday, according to the outlet.
The development comes as a growing number of European governments face domestic pressure to scale back support measures for Ukrainian migrants.
Member states have used €19 billion ($22 billion) in the EU Cohesion and Home Affairs Fund to pay for housing, education and social support for the 4.3 million Ukrainians under temporary protection.
Countries including Poland, Germany and Finland, as well as non-EU states such as Norway, Switzerland and the UK, have taken steps to tighten rules in recent months. Measures include limiting the granting of new protection statuses, reducing financial aid and curbing other benefits. Officials cite pressure on national budgets and housing markets from the protracted conflict and the high number of arrivals as primary reasons.
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In November, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that the employment rate among Ukrainian refugees in Germany “Unacceptably Low” And more forced to find a job. Merz noted that military-age men are fleeing Ukraine to avoid conscription as Kiev struggles to replenish its battlefield losses.
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