Legislation on emergency relocation of asylum-seekers in the EU

Briefing 14-10-2015

Europe is confronted with the most serious refugee crisis since World War II. Wars, conflicts and persecution worldwide have forced more than 59 million people to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The unprecedented migratory flows to Europe have put enormous pressure on the asylum systems of the frontline Member States. In response, the Commission has proposed, the Parliament has supported, and the Council has adopted a set of emergency measures for relocating 160 000 asylum-seekers from the frontline Member States to other Member States. To this end, the Council decided on 14 September 2015 to relocate 40 000 asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece to other Member States. In addition, the Council agreed on 22 September 2015 a further temporary relocation scheme for an additional 120 000 asylum-seekers from Greece and Italy. Furthermore, the Commission proposed on 9 September 2015 to create a permanent relocation mechanism for all Member States, as well as a number of other concrete measures to better manage the exceptional migratory flows to Europe.