Germany and the migration crisis in the European Union in the years 2011-2016

The aim of this research paper is to evaluate the position of Germany, including the federal government and the parliamentary opposition, as regards the migration crisis in the European Union in the years 2011-2016. The first part of the article presents the course of the migration crisis in the presented time period. The second part discusses the evolution of the position of the governing coalition and the parliamentary opposition in Germany towards the first phase of the crisis in the years 2011-2014. The third part has been dedicated to analysing the position of the federal government and the parliamentary opposition towards the second phase of the crisis in the years 2015-2016. The fourth part presents the influence of the German government on the reform of the immigration and asylum policies, as well as the dynamics of the migration crisis in the European Union in the years 2015-2016. The author formulates a research hypothesis tha the federal government did not control the migration crisis in the European Union but rather acted impulsively, thereby contributing to its deepening.