Asylum policy - Opt-outs make reform a cop-out

The European Commission this week unveiled an overhaul of the European Union’s asylum policy in an effort to share the burden of hosting refugees more evenly among member states.

At first sight, that objective sounds fair and reasonable as it will ease the burden on frontline member states such as Greece, Italy, and Malta, who have had to cope with tens of thousands of refugees arriving on their shores.

However, there is one major flaw, in that the UK will be able to continue to operate the current rules under the Dublin Regulations that allow member states to send back refugees to the EU country where they first arrived.