Putting Asylum to the ‘European Refugee Crisis’ Test: Sub-Regional Realities and Legal Challenges

This contribution serves as the introduction to the edited volume titled 'The New Asylum and Transit Countries in Europe. During and in the Aftermath of the 2015/2016 Crisis'. In particular it provides an overview of the four dynamics captured in the volume. The first one concerns the absorption of EU norms in Central and South Eastern Europe. The second dynamic is the reaction by the counties in this region to the massive movement of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016 through their territories. The third dynamic captured in the edited volume is how, despite the dictates of the EU and the EU asylum legislation, the countries in question have used their autonomy and have initiated their own normative developments in the area of asylum during and beyond the crisis. The final dynamic addressed in this book concerns the question of solidarity and shared responsibility among EU Member States in the area of asylum.