Reforming the Dublin system: EU inter-state solidarity in the allocation of asylum seekers

Abstract

This thesis discusses how the principle of inter-state solidarity and the commitment to the protection of human rights could inform a reform of the Dublin system and the distribution of asylum seekers within the European Union. The first part studies the relationship between the different Member States within the EU by assessing the Dublin Regulation, the principle of solidarity and the idea of freedom of movement. The second part examines the relationship between asylum seekers and the EU and its Member States by looking at the normative concerns about human rights and at the minimal standards or principles with which every EU country should comply. The thesis then questions the precise implications of the recent rulings by the ECtHR and the ECJ on the rights of asylum seekers and their re-allocation. It will be argued that, despite the re-interpretation of the Dublin regulation in the case-law, and despite the EU’s rhetoric of ‘solidarity’, the system still endangers basic fundamental rights of asylum seekers and does not prevent Member States acting in their own interest. Recent reports show the continuing malfunctioning of the Dublin system, and therefore this thesis will propose a normative rights-based approach to the reform of the Dublin system.