Filling the Gap of the Dublin System: A Soft Cosmopolitan Approach

Immigration and asylum issues are currently central in the European political debate. In this paper, I first analyse the European legislation on asylum, the so-called ‘Dublin System’, finding three main gaps affecting it: a) the allocation of refugees between member states; b) the differences between member states in the treatment of asylum seekers and asylum applications; and c) the differences in the rights granted to the refugee status across member states. Secondly, I examine the European proposals drawn up by the EC in order to fill these gaps. I argue that these proposals, while potentially promising in filling gaps b) and c), seem to be less effective in filling gap a), since they do not consider the question from the refugees’ perspective. In the last sections, following a moderated cosmopolitan approach, I propose the establishment of a limited citizenship for refugees that might be thought of as a temporary citizenship conditioned on the possession of the refugee status. To this particular citizenship, one may apply different rights, but to face the issue highlighted, it may be sufficient to connect it only to the freedom of movement and residence throughout the EU. I argue that such a policy would have a number of advantages and could at least partially fill the identified gaps.