European Refugee Policy: Pathways to Fairer Burden-Sharing.
Policy Brief | November 2013
The number of asylum-seekers in the EU is on the rise. This Policy Brief shows that several member states have seen a greater influx of refugees than others and that the EU is still far from offering a uniform protection level in all member states. The challenges of a common asylum policy are identified and it is shown that the EU lacks a mechanism for more equitable distribution of asylum-seekers across member states. The multi-factor model for fair burden sharing developed by the Expert Council’s Research Unit and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik - SWP) is presented as a solution. It takes into account economic strength, population, size of territory and unemployment rate of the EU member states and allows for a calculation of fair reception quotas for every country.
