From the Migration Crisis to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum: The Status Quo Problem

This paper discusses the European Commission’s proposal for a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, and emphasizes that the current gridlock of the European Union (EU) in the field of asylum is rooted in a status quo problem: the EU’s approach to asylum is characterized by a static policy core and a lack of institutional capacity building. This status quo problem limits sustainable internal solutions by the EU and its member states and shifts the weight onto the external dimension of migration and asylum.