Research Papers

This paper assesses the EU’s efforts to implement refugee protection, and how solidarity applies between the Member States as well as towards third countries. Enhanced solidarity between Member States which is translated into concrete measures is now enshrined in article 80 of the TFEU and has been identified by the Commission as an essential component of the Common European Asylum System. At the same time, the Stockholm Programme, stressed that to “achieve a credible and sustainable common policy on asylum it is important to further develop instruments to express solidarity with third countries in order to promote and help building capacity to handle migratory flows and protracted refugee situations in these countries”. The recent upheavals in North Africa which resulted in significant mixed migratory flows highlighted the urgency and importance of developing partnerships and meaningfully co-operating with third countries. Within the EU, as a response to the humanitarian crisis in Greece, EU institutions and agencies have undertaken a series of measures to support this Member State which faces extreme migratory pressures and is still building up a functioning asylum system. Seeking to assess the level of realisation of the EU’s stated ambition to create a coherent and fair asylum policy the paper evaluates, against the backdrop of the EU treaties, initiatives of intra-EU solidarity such as the proposed reformed of the Dublin system, relocation programs and EU agency involvement in Member States facing particular pressures as well as initiatives to demonstrate solidarity externally, such as Regional Protection Programs and the voluntary European Resettlement Program.