The EU and relocation

Abstract

The recent arrival of a large number of persons seeking international protection placed the matter of migration amongst the priority issues on the EU’s political agenda. The influx was, however, distributed very unevenly among member states as some of them took in a disproportionate number of asylum seekers as a consequence of a number of factors, including their geographical location or the state of their economies. The European Union advocates responsibility, solidarity and partnership. As stated in Article 80 of the Lisbon Treaty; “The policies of the Union set out in this Chapter and their implementation shall be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, between the Member States.” Responsibility-sharing is therefore one of the key principles on which a common migration and asylum policy should be built in order to address the unequal distribution of asylum seekers. [excerpt]