The new European solidarity mechanism: Towards a fair sharing of responsibility between member states?

Policy Study

For many years, the EU asylum system has been marked by an imbalance between member states’ responsibility over asylum seekers based on the ‘Dublin’ rules and the provision of sol­idarity to counteract their effects. The recently adopted New Pact on Migration and Asylum reforms address this imbalance through a new mandatory but flexible solidarity mechanism as part of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR). Under this new sys­tem, member states will be obligated to provide contributions either in the form of relocations, financial contributions, or in-kind contributions.

This policy study examines this mechanism as well as the new governance structures that suggest more precise and reliable steps for determining solidarity needs at EU and na­tional levels, situations of migratory pressure, and the respective contributions to be made.

Following an analysis of the operationalisation of solidarity and the newly introduced institu­tional framework for implementing it, the study concludes with forward-looking reflections on achieving fairer sharing of responsibility among member states going forward.

“The new European solidarity mechanism: Towards a fair sharing of responsibility between member states?” is part of the New Pact Implementation series, written in cooperation with the European Policy Centre and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. It focuses on different aspects of how the New Pact on Migration and Asylum should be implemented.