Trust and Cooperation between Member States in the Reception of Asylum Seekers in the European Union. Towards Solidarity and Integration in the Sharing of Responsibilities between Member States?

The sharing of responsibilities between Member States in the refugee crisis and the determination of the responsible State for examining asylum claims is a key point at EU level regarding the current asylum crisis.

This paper will show that effective solidarity between Member State in this process constitutes a precondition for EU integration in the asylum field and for the establishment of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

The CEAS relies upon the principle of mutual trust between Member States because it enables swift cooperation between national authorities in the dealing with the flows of asylum-seekers. Yet, it appears that the lack of solidarity between Member States puts in danger the trust between their national authorities since some countries face difficulties to deal with the important number of migrants arriving on their territory because of their geographical situation. Indeed, some Member States fail to fulfil their obligations under EU law in terms of reception conditions of asylum seekers, putting thereby at stake the inter-state cooperation in this field. This paper will assess how the principle of solidarity is a prerequisite of the principle of mutual trust between national authorities in their implementation of EU law and, thereby, of the CEAS.