La risposta della Commissione Europea al deterioramento del diritto di asilo in Grecia: riflessioni sull’attenuato attivismo dell’istituzione “guardiana dei Trattati”

Access to the right to asylum in Greece is systematically hindered by the implementation of border rejection practices as well as the application of the Safe Third Country concept in the context of asylum procedures. Against this backdrop, the contribution analyses the mobilisation of civil society and the European Parliament aimed at evoking some reaction from the European Commission given the latter’s remit – at least on paper – as 'Guardian of the Treaties'. The institution's response outlines, on the one hand, a kind of inaction-observation of the status quo, and on the other hand, a certain 'weakened activism' in attempting to remedy breaches of obligations under EU law. Within this framework, in order to examine different 'remedial avenues', we turn our attention to the so-called 'alternative use' of the preliminary reference and the conditionality's instrument. By reflecting on the motivations underlying the Commission's immobility/attenuated activism in this case, the outlined framework is intended to form part of a broader reflection on the European Commission's discretion in initiating infringement procedures. In doing so, new factual elements are highlighted that, indeed, would seem to call for a paradigm shift.