Public expectations and EU policies – The issue of migration

A series of Briefings from the European Parliamentary Research Service which looks at EU actions in a series of policy areas. This follows up a public opinion survey organised by Eurobarometer for the European Parliament in April 2016 which asked the question: Would you like the EU to intervene less than at present or more than at present for the following policy areas?

Terrorism / Unemployment / Tax fraud / Migration / Borders / Democracy / Environment / Security and defence / Health / Gender equality / Energy / Economy / Foreign policy / Agriculture / Industrial policyMigration and asylum are policy areas with one of the highest levels of public support for more EU involvement, but at the same time citizens do not see it as a priority for the EU budget. Post-Lisbon Treaty, the area is governed by fair sharing of responsibilities and financial implications between Member States. Faced with unprecedented migratory flows, the current migration management system has revealed serious shortcomings that arguably cannot be addressed without more EU support.

Authors: Anita Orav, Alessandro D’Alfonso, Alina Dobreva