Unic Press UK: The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) today dismissed the actions brought by Hungary and Slovakia against the provisional mechanism for the mandatory relocation of asylum seekers. The two countries challenged the EU migration policy, especially the compulsory quota scheme.
Some of the facts of the case
- Due to the migrant crisis in Europe in 2015, the Council of the European Union decided to alleviate the changes being faced by Italy and Greece, in relation to a mass influx of migrants from several countries, namely: Syria, Iraq.
- To help Italy and Greece, the EU decided to relocate 120,000 persons [over a period of two years] from these two countries to other EU Member States’; in other ways, upholding the sharing of refugees among EU countries.
- The EU had based its relocation decision on Article 78(3) of the Lisbon Treaty, which reads: “In the event of one or more Member States being confronted with an emergency situation characterized by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt provisional measures for the benefit of the member State(s) concerned. It shall act after consulting the European Parliament.”
- Slovakia and Hungary rejected the EU’s decision to share refugees among member States’; and asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to annul the decision.
- In the course of the case at the CJEU, Slovakia and Hungary argued that decision to share refugees was riddled with procedural errors and that the compulsory fixed-quota scheme that had been adopted by the EU remained a weak response to migration crisis in Europe.
