With the shortcomings of the existing Dublin rules exposed during the course of Europe's refugee crisis, officials in Brussels put forward two main options on how to reform the bloc's asylum process.
As part of plans to ease the burden on periphery EU states such as Greece and Italy, the European Commission proposed developing a "corrective fairness mechanism" that would effectively work as a migrant relocation system within the EU during times of crisis.
#SmartBorders: The Entry-Exit system: how will it help border management and EU security? https://t.co/FBhE4y4Otv pic.twitter.com/yssGY6mbdl
— EUHomeAffairs (@EUHomeAffairs) April 6, 2016
The idea is based on the EC plan to relocate 160,000 refugees and migrants from Greece and Italy and settle them in participating EU member states. Critics have slammed the practicality of the proposals however, noting that only 1,000 people have been relocated so far as part of the scheme, while many member states have refused to take part.
The second idea put forward by the EC would be to scrap existing rules and introduce a scheme calling for the mandatory distribution of refugees across the continent.
PHOTO @TimmermansEU & @Avramopoulos on options for #Dublin reform & #SmartBorders package:- https://t.co/OMhH1FyIyY pic.twitter.com/WlzDjN5UwV
— EC AV Services (@EC_AVService) April 6, 2016
Under the current Dublin rules, refugees must apply for asylum in the first EU member state that they arrive in, placing huge pressure on periphery states like Greece and Italy, who have seen hundreds of thousands of 'irregular arrivals' throughout 2015 and the beginning of 2016.
However, critics say system is not practical during times of huge migration, as local authorities cannot effectively process and house the huge amount of people arriving in their respective countries.
'How Long Will the EC Keep Riding This Dead Horse?'
While EC Vice-President Frans Timmermans called for member states to embrace the new ideas, there was almost immediate opposition from critics.
Tomas Prouza, Czech Republic state secretary for European affairs, tweeted:
Permanent quotas once again? How long will @EU_Commission keep riding this dead horse instead of working on things that really help?
— Tomas Prouza (@CZSecStateEU) April 6, 2016
A number of EU member states, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, have vehemently opposed such refugee and migrant distribution proposals, arguing that they should not be forced to accept Brussels-imposed immigration levels.
Hungary and Slovakia have filed lawsuits against the EU in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over migrant relocation proposals, while Poland and Romania have also expressed opposition to such plans.
The stinging opposition to such proposals is another blow to the EU and it tries to come up with a unified approach to dealing with the migration crisis, which has seen an estimated 1.5 million people enter the bloc since early 2015.
