The poor implementation of the EU relocation scheme and the actions for annulment of Decision No 1601/2015: the margins for reaffirming the rule of law.

The Brief outlines the legal means available to the Commission and to Greece and Italy in order to react to the persistent refusal by some EU Member States to play their part in the relocation scheme adopted in 2015 by the Council of the EU under Article 78 (3) TFEU. Basic principles of EU law are called into question as a consequence of the legal challenge mounted against Decision No 1601/2015 by Slovakia and Hungary, and of the material behaviour of those and other Member States. At this stage, the Commission and the (supposedly) beneficiary States have no convenience in maintaining a passive or prudent position. Two possible paths are suggested: the first one suggests an initiative (in cooperation with the Council) in the current annulment procedures before the European Court of Justice (in order to speed up the procedure), while the second one evokes the commencement of a formal infringement procedure against some Member States, according to Article 258 or Article 259 TFEU.