Europe's top court on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the "safe countries" list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania to await decisions on their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key aspect of the government's migration policy.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticized Friday's European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the classification of safe countries of origin. She said the decision further restricted the already limited room for manoeuvre of governments.

The European Union's top court is to rule on Friday on a list issued by Italy of countries labelled as safe enough for asylum seekers to be returned there. The list is part of an effort by the right-wing government in Rome to speed up the vetting of asylum requests and to allow fewer people to enter Italy.