The EU has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants over the last few years. 74% of Europeans want the EU to do more to manage the situation, according to the latest Eurobarometer poll commissioned by the European Parliament. In addition two thirds of respondents said EU action on migration was insufficient.

According to the survey 87% of Maltese support greater EU engagement in the issue of migration, the second highest in the EU behind Cyprus (91%), and Portugal was third at (86%). The lowest is in Denmark (57%).

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted among 27,969 people from all EU countries on 9-18 April and was set up to be representative of the population as a whole. Across the EU 74% of correspondents wanted the EU to do more on migration.

Greater EU engagement in the issue of migration is supported by 74% of EU citizens, according to a new Eurobarometer survey of the European Parliament on 'perceptions and expectations'. This makes migration issues one of the policy areas with the highest support for EU involvement. Although this support is unevenly spread across the EU, it always comes from a majority of citizens, and sometimesis almost unanimous.

Two thirds of EU citizens evaluate the EU's current involvement in this policy area as insufficient. Citizens' expectations and preferences of EU involvement in the issues of migration are not yet met despite increased attention to this policy area.

The strongest support for more EU involvement in migration is from people between 35 and 74 years old. Despite the strong preference for EU involvement in migration issues, EU citizens do not share very strong preferences for turning this policy area into an EU budget spending priority.

Among the most preferred categories of EU spending, migration issues ranked 11th in 2008 and in 2011 (with 12% of citizens perceiving it as a top priority).

In 2015, migration issues moved up to ninth place with 16% of supporters, which almost overlaps with the number of citizens who perceive migration issues to be a current EU budget spending priority, namely 15%. Legal framework Migration and asylum are regulated at EU and national level.

At EU level, migration policy has been developed since 1999, with the Amsterdam Treaty facilitating the shift from autonomous national policies to some common minimum standards. In 2009, under the Stockholm Programme Member States agreed on principles for a common migration and asylum policy which the Lisbon Treaty embedded in a legal framework based on solidarity.

Post-Lisbon, migration, as part of Justice and Home Affairs, falls under 'shared competence' between the EU and its Member States. Moreover, both EU and national asylum legislation must be aligned with the international refugee law framework set by the 1951 Geneva Convention and its Protocol, which have been incorporated into EU law under Article 78(1) TFEU.

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