The Common European Asylum System: Promising practices of responsibility sharing

CEASEVAL Working paper nº 36

From a historic perspective, increasing arrivals of protection seekers have repeatedly triggered debates on solidarity and responsibility sharing, terms that are often used in the same vein. The latter refers to concrete practices of a State to support another State in coping with its situation concerning international protection. It is a manifestation of solidarity, which relates to States’ willingness to support another State. The norm of responsibility sharing is weakly institutionalized which becomes evident in the various understandings of responsibility sharing and the lack of a common definition at the EU and the global level. Despite the vast literature on the legal and political aspects of responsibility sharing in the Common European Asylum System, little has been done on practices of responsibility sharing.
This case study report sheds light and discusses ten promising practices of responsibility sharing, implemented at the global and the European level, thus, focussing on the internal as well as the external dimension of the Common European Asylum System. Practices of responsibility sharing in the context of international protection extend to “sharing people seeking international protection”, sharing of costs, sharing of resources and sharing knowledge. At EU level, practices of responsibility sharing increased with the establishment of the European Asylum Support Office.

Keywords: responsibility sharing practices, solidarity, Common European Asylum System, EU, asylum seekers, international protection