Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The migrant crisis is a years-old problem for the EU, but little light can so far be seen at the end of the tunnel as a growing number of EU members, including the UK and Denmark, have officially said "no" to a proposed quota system for distributing 40,000 migrants throughout its 28 member states, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban calling the plan "absurd."Europe has always faced questions over migration. The influx of refugees is mainly prompted by low standard of living in their original states, and more importantly, by the mistakes of Western countries' policies toward the Middle East and North Africa.Over the years, the European nations and the US have been trying to lead democratic reforms in the region, which unfortunately have led to escalating turmoil in a number of countries. Some refugees even hold banners that blame NATO for their homelessness when they arrived in Europe, a destination they think they deserve to go and have the right to survive. As a result, it was not unexpected that such a problem has been worsened in recent years.Countries in the EU have been divided and haggling for quite some time over the mass inflow of migrants. For starters, most illegal immigrants could only reach Southern European nations via the Mediterranean Sea. Those nations can neither shut the door in front of them, nor afford to embrace them. So they are left with no choice but to seek help from the EU.The EU, on the other hand, is facing a dilemma. If it lets the refugees die at sea, it will be blamed. But if letting them in, it will be faced with possible economic and security issues. The long-lasting European debt crisis has already resulted in worsening unemployment, cultural and religious conflicts. Therefore, opening the doors for thousands of migrants right now will only add fuel to the fire.That's why rich countries like Germany would rather provide money for Southern European nations, rather than welcoming asylum seekers to its own soil. And other countries that are struggling in the debt crisis can afford to provide neither money nor shelter. The EU is left with no option but to impose migrant quotas on all member states, with its problems unresolved.The migrant crisis also brings to light other challenges that the EU is facing.Although the EU has realized monetary integration, its financial policy has not been integrated yet. This involves sovereign rights of its member states, and raises the question of whether they are willing to hand over their financial power to the EU. Meanwhile, EU member states are adjusting the balance between their interests and those of the EU's.This is one of the most striking paradoxes, since they want to enjoy the benefits of being a member of the EU, while not losing their own interests and flexibility.As a result, the decision-making process can hardly be unified and coherent. The Treaty of Lisbon is designed to solve the puzzle, which proposed the creation of a president of the European Council, and to make the EU a cooperative and consolidated entity that governs the exercise of power within the union. However, given too many colliding interests, it is a challenge for the EU to keep all its members in line and act all together.European integration is stumbling on slowly. Its future is not that dim, but not optimistic either. Just as the migrant crisis has exposed, due to the lack of strong cohesion and capability to cope with emergencies, the EU can hardly deliver a temporary policy that can satisfy most of its members.The most important issue is that the EU has not yet made up its mind about what exactly it wants to become. It changes policy whenever there is a problem. But whether its goal is to set up a country, a union or a confederation remains unclear. Hence it needs to carefully consider how to chart its future while going down the road.The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Li Aixin based on an interview with Sun Keqin, a research fellow with the Institute of European Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. liaixin@globaltimes.com.cn