Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola has expressed disagreement with a key point in a European Commission proposal to amend the Dublin Regulation, which currently lays down that the country where the migrant first lands is responsible for him/her.

The commission proposal would oblige member states to resettle migrants from countries receiving a ‘disproportionate’ number of applications or else pay a fine of €250,000 for every migrant they refuse.

"The Commission's idea for a Corrective Fairness Mechanism is a good step in the right direction" and would go some way to pushing forward a sustainable solution for disproportionate pressure faced by border states, she said.

"But the Commission's idea for the member states to be able to pay their way out of the mechanism is provocative and shows how far away member states are from real sharing of responsibility," she said.

"That some countries will be able to exonerate themselves from responsibility by payment is not the best road for effective solidarity. We need to do more to ensure there is the political will to move forward," she said.

"Solidarity must be part and parcel of being an EU member state. It can never be a concept we can buy our way out of... We are either all in this together, or we are not," she said