Berlin wants Dublin transfers to Italy and Greece restarted

After Italy and Spain, Germany is now weighing in on the migration file. Berlin is calling for the new Pact on Migration and Asylum to be applied and for returns under the so-called Dublin cases to become operational again.

«Il funzionamento del sistema di Dublino è una condizione imprescindibile per il successo del Sistema europeo comune di asilo» (the functioning of the Dublin system is an indispensable condition for the success of the Common European Asylum System), a spokesperson for the German interior ministry said. Berlin, the spokesperson added, «si aspetta che, a partire da tale data, vengano nuovamente effettuati i trasferimenti verso l’Italia e la Grecia» (expects transfers to Italy and Greece to be carried out again from that date).

The Pact came into force on 12 June. Besides external borders and hubs in third countries, it regulates secondary movements more strictly, meaning the movement of people who, having landed in one country, head for another member state. This has long been a point of friction between Italy and countries of onward arrival such as Germany, Austria and France.

The German move has a legal basis. In an assessment dated 15 July, the European Commission found that the government in Rome had not yet implemented the rules on returns. Between 12 June and 7 July, eight member states notified the Commission of take-charge requests. Twelve transfers were requested of Italy, and Italy rejected them. In the document the Commission states that «uno Stato membro ricevente non può rifiutare un trasferimento e deve proporre una data alternativa» (a receiving member state cannot refuse a transfer and must propose an alternative date). The only way out foreseen is to take on asylum applications addressed to another state, thereby easing the pressure on it. In the same assessment the judgement on Greece and Spain was more positive. Berlin also recalls that in autumn 2025 Italy and Greece agreed, in bilateral accords, to reintroduce the Dublin rules once the new system entered into force.

There is a political dimension too. Brussels is watching the moves of Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of 6 September, when Saxony-Anhalt goes to the polls, a state where the far-right AfD is ahead. It is the first of an autumn of votes that risks being dominated by election campaigns: Italy, Spain, France and Poland all vote in 2027.

Behind this acceleration lies the Ceuta crisis, which has brought the issue back to the centre of European debate. Neither Italy nor the EU executive has commented officially on the German position. After the attempted mediation between Rome and Madrid, the Union will speak again in the coming days, perhaps around 15 August, the date the Italian government has indicated as a possible end to checks on arrivals from Spain.

What happens to the people at the centre of these transfers remains to be seen. The Dublin system decides in which country an asylum application is examined, and therefore where an applicant lives while waiting. A stricter handling of returns shifts the burden of reception onto countries of first arrival, without it yet being clear how that burden will be shared.