European governments began to show interest in policies related to the migration issue only when they began to show their connections with other important aspects of national sovereignty, such as national security, border control and illegal immigration. The core of European asylum policies has remained anchored to a restrictive vision of refugee protection.  The attribution of competences to the European Union, the European Council and the Commission, which draw up guidelines and development policies both in the field of asylum and immigration, with the right doses of ambition and pragmatism have strengthened the trust of the institutions, a path without complexity, but still a safe and progressive evolution, making the European Union a new actor in migration policies, making the legislation of the Member States in this sector not only increasingly homogeneous, but also suitable for the management of a phenomenon of global dimension and destined to continue in the following decades.