What type of reform of the common European asylum regime are we heading toward?

The migratory crisis that the European Union is experiencing right now has brought to light serious weaknesses in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which aims to define the Member State responsible for the assessment of an asylum request, to establish common procedures and reception rules for asylum seekers and to distinguish between those who really need international protection from economic migrants.

In answer to this challenge and in the wake of emergency measures, the European Commission has already put forward and will present proposals for the structural reform of this system in the next few days thereby aiming to make it "more human" and "more effective". Making it "more human" notably requires measures to prevent the catastrophes associated with illegal migration; making it more effective means the quest for a better distribution of asylum seekers between Member States, measures that enable quicker and effective identification of people who need international protection. However in this period of economic and political crisis for the Union, solidarity between Member States seems uncertain, the external dimension of the European asylum policy is gaining weight and the entire European asylum system seems to be on the way to be weakened.

• Primary Source