POLICY PAPER: Untying the Gordian Knot of the Common European Asylum System: Dublin IV Reform

The latest policy paper by our Shang-Yen Lee and Christian Kvorning Lassen focuses on the reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System and its prospects after the EP elections.

• The reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has stagnated for years, leaving the EU ill-prepared for future migration and asylum challenges.
• A reform of Dublin IV is a prerequisite to a comprehensive CEAS reform towards greater solidarity and fairer sharing of responsibilities between the Member States, yet divisions between Parliament and Commission as well as liberal and ‘illiberal’ fault lines have complicated the reform process.
• The EP elections will most likely stagnate the process further due to a surge in nationalist Eurosceptic MEP’s, which could delay CEAS reform for the foreseeable future, to the detriment of the EU.

Christian Kvorning Lassen
Deputy Director & Head of Research

Expertise: Migration/European migration crisis, EU foreign policy, Scandinavian politics, populism, EU enlargement policy