Explaining Failure in Decision-Making: Anger and Distrust in the Refugee Crisis

Despite the increasing knowledge of the important role of emotions in decision-making, little in known about to which extent and how emotions play a role in European Union (EU) decision-making processes. EU decision-making has always been pictured as a technocratic or consensual process, with little or no place for the logics of passion. This article explores the role of emotions in the refugee crisis, and particularly the decision-making sequence that led to the approval of the refugee relocation system. I argue that emotions such as anger and mistrust played a decisive role that can help explaining the controversial policy decisions and the poor implementation. To this purpose I carry out a systematic qualitative content analysis of primary documentation, including 14 debates of the European Parliament on the topic of the refugee crisis (covering also the point of view of the Commission and the Council), as well as policy documents and speeches of the main actors in the decision-making process, including relevant member states, the visegrad group and NGOs.