Summary

In the European Union the question of which Member State must review applications for international protection filed on the territory of the European Union is regulated by Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, i.e. the so-called Dublin III regulation, which together with related regulations makes up the so-called Dublin system. The Dublin system has for years been criticized on the grounds that it has not put an end to secondary migration within the European Union, does not ensure fair and proportionate allocation of applicants for international protection among the Member States or sufficient solidarity. In the context of the refugee crisis that reached its peak in 2015 the faults of the system became especially clear.

In order to strengthen solidarity without essentially changing the Dublin system, the EU Council adopted in September 2015 two decisions with similar content – decisions No. 2015/1523 and No. 2015/1601 – establishing provisional measures to assist Italy and Greece by relocating a total of 160,000 applicants for international protection from these countries to other Member States in the course of two years. These decisions constitute a temporary deviation from the Dublin system and establish, in certain sense, a new criterion for determining the responsible Member State. While in adopting decision No. 2015/1523 the proposals of Member States regarding the numbers of applicants to be agreed to were taken into account, decision No. 2015/1601 establishes mandatory distribution quotas for Member States, disregarding the proposals of the Member States.

This article analyses whether the September 2015 decisions of the Council of the European Union are compatible with the principle of proportionality of EU law and the principle of solidarity, given the degree of solidarity that has evolved between the Member States.