An op-ed by Ross Clark for The Telegraph on Monday argued that Keir Starmer's proposal to negotiate an agreement with the EU on migrants, which involves accepting asylum-seekers from other European countries in exchange for France and other nations accepting those who have entered Britain illegally on small boats, reveals a significant flaw.

According to Clark, this raises the question of how Starmer anticipates the EU agreeing to such a deal with the UK when the EU faces challenges in resolving migrant issues within its own member states.

Starmer's proposal, Clark argues, reflects the ideal functioning of Europe's asylum system. It enforces the principle that asylum-seekers should be required to seek refuge in the first safe country they reach, and those who move between safe nations should be promptly returned to either the initial safe country or, if applicable, to their home country.

As an integral component of this arrangement, the responsibility for managing asylum applications should be equitably distributed among EU member states.

However, the EU has struggled to establish an efficient system, leading to a situation where the 7,000 migrants who arrived on the Italian island of  Lampedusa on Wednesday and Thursday alone (surpassing the island's permanent population of 6,000) will not be evenly distributed across Europe.

Italy is likely to face the responsibility of managing this situation on its own, as it has already had to cope with 124,000 arrivals in 2023 thus far.

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Countries wavering

The EU has had a voluntary asylum resettlement scheme in place since 2015, but numerous member states have not participated.

In 2022, Cyprus had to process 22,190 asylum applications, while Hungary handled only 45. This discrepancy highlights the uneven burden-sharing among EU nations.

Even countries that previously aimed for a fair distribution of asylum seekers are wavering. For example, Germany suspended its agreement to accept asylum seekers from Italy, and Belgium intends to defy a Supreme Court ruling regarding shelter for single young male asylum seekers.

This situation underscores the challenges faced by countries like Italy, Greece, and Cyprus, located near conflict zones and serving as initial points of entry for refugees.

Read more: Ocean Viking rescues 438 migrants in Mediterranean

Migrant crisis poses risk to EU unity

Despite the EU's commitment to free movement, it has not shown the same flexibility when it comes to asylum applicants. Some member states have resorted to physical barriers, such as Hungary's border fence, to deter migrants. 

The EU is facing a critical challenge in dealing with the issue of migration, which has the potential to undermine its very existence.

As previously migrant-friendly countries like Germany and Sweden distance themselves from migrants arriving on Europe's southern shores, it threatens to devolve into a situation where each country prioritizes its own interests. This could provoke strong reactions from nations highly affected by migrant inflows.

While the EU managed to weather the sovereign debt crisis a decade ago, the migrant crisis poses an even greater threat to its unity, Clark says.

The high-minded ideals that underpin the EU have been severely tested and appear to lack the structural integrity required to address the current challenges effectively.

Read more: Over 870 migrants cross English Channel in 15 boats in one day