Why Europe’s asylum policy desperately needs rebooting

If there isEUEU one thing Europeans like more than August off and coalition governments, it is a half-baked project. The euro brought much of the continent into a currency union, which ended up causing endless division when it turned out the requisite plumbing had not been installed. The single market is a triumph for goods like cars and widgets, but works poorly for the services that now dominate the economy. Migration has long been another will-complete- policy. Internal borders were scrapped within most of the bloc almost 30 years ago. But the messy business of how to deal with the external border—and the hundreds of thousands who cross it illegally year after year—was given too little thought. The upshot has been a chaotic asylum system, leaving thousands dead in the Mediterranean each year and fuelling the rise of populist politicians.On June 14th at least 78 migrants died when an overcrowded fishing vessel capsized in Greek waters; hundreds more remain unaccounted for.Not before time, then, a stab has at last been made at completing the job. And, of course, nobody is happy. Europe is a magnet for migrants, being rich and easy to reach by lots of people from war-torn (or poor) places in Africa and the Middle East. Some migrants who enter on small boats or overland are entitled to asylum because they are fleeing persecution; but well over half of the arrivals are not. Many land in societies that have done a bad job of integrating previous waves of foreigners, often from past colonies. The system can be kind: a surge of some 4m or so Ukrainians fled to countries with few problems. More often it is dysfunctional, turning an emotive policy area into one where everyone casts blame widely but accepts none.