The Dublin Regulation does not share responsibility fairly among member states nor secure swift access to asylum procedures, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee said.

The committee approved a non-legislative resolution with 45 votes to 10 and 13 abstentions which will now be put to the vote by the full House during the next plenary session.

In the resolution, which aims to assess the functioning of the law that determines the member state which has to deal with an asylum application, the committee notes that the 2013 Dublin III Regulation puts a “disproportionate responsibility on a minority of member states, in particular when high numbers of arrivals occur”.

MEPs call for a solidarity-based mechanism to ensure the fundamental right to asylum in the EU and the equal distribution of responsibility among member states.

Calling for fairer rules, MEPs noted that the “inappropriate application of the hierarchy of criteria” – in particular the excessive use of the first country of entry criterion – and the ineffective implementation of transfers, increase pressure on certain countries, namely Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, and Spain.

The committee regretted that the Council, contrary to Parliament, did not adopt a position on the 2016 proposal to reform the Dublin Regulation, thereby blocking that reform and leaving the Union with the “same set of rules which have proven to be ineffective” in managing high numbers of arrivals.

Members insisted that ad hoc agreements on relocation cannot replace a harmonised and sustainable Common European and Asylum System and demand more resources and capabilities for frontline member states as long as the Dublin rules are not reformed.