The refugee and migrant crisis in Europe has exposed the need for reform of the Common European Asylum System, in general, and of the Dublin rules, in particular.

The Commission's proposal of 4 May 2016 to reform the Dublin system does not change the existing criteria for determining which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application.
Instead of a fundamental overhaul of the Dublin regime, as suggested by the Parliament, the Commission proposes to streamline and supplement the current rules with a corrective allocation mechanism. This mechanism would be triggered automatically were a Member State to be faced with disproportionate numbers of asylum-seekers. If a Member State decided not to accept the allocation of asylum-seekers from a Member State under pressure, a 'solidarity contribution'of €250 000 per applicant would have to be made instead.