Visti umanitari e protezione internazionale: così vicini così lontani

The Court of Justice in the case X X v. Belgium the Court declared that the facts fell outside EU Law since the Syrian family had applied for a visa for international protection that should have been qualified as a long-term visa and not as short-term one. As the European Union has not ruled on long-term visa, EU law, including EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, does not apply in the case at stake and the CJEU declared its incompetence. While we agree with the Court on this, it is regrettable that the CJEU has not taken the chance to say at least few words on the need to reform the European Asylum System and to shed some lights on the need to provide for legal ways of access to EU countries. Protected entries for people in need of international protection are commonly mentioned as the proper way to deal with humanitarian crisis and mass migration. However, the European Union and its Member States have never adopted an extraordinary measure of reception while they have set up a complex system to stem migrants’ flows, including those of asylum seekers.