On the Distribution of Refugees in the EU

This Intereconomics article is available for free at this page after an embargo period of two years. Reading it before then is possible via SpringerLink.The situation in 2015 and 2016 regarding the migration of refugees can only be handled efficiently through closer international cooperation in the field of asylum policy. From an economic point of view, it would be reasonable to distribute incoming refugees among all EU countries according to a distribution key that reflects differences in the costs of integration in the individual countries. An efficient distribution would even out the marginal costs of integrating refugees. In order to reach a political agreement, the key for distributing refugees should be complemented by compensation payments that distribute the costs of integration among countries.

The key for distributing refugees presented by the EU Commission takes account of appropriate factors in principle, but it is unclear in terms of detail. The compensation payments for countries that should take relatively high numbers of refugees for cost efficiency reasons should be financed by reallocating resources within the EU budget.

• Primary Source

Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/

SpringerLink: Intereconomics http://link.springer.com/journal/10272

European Commission: DG Migration and Home Affairs: European Agenda on Migration: Background information: Relocation and Resettlement - State of Play, 13 July 2016 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/background-information/docs/20160713/factsheet_relocation_and_resettlement_-_state_of_play_en.pdf

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

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