The European Commission is finally set to announce a plan to deal with the tens of thousands of migrants who have journeyed across the Mediterranean in recent months. The plan, which is set to become law by the end of the year, involves each European country accepting a quota of the migrants, with each country's number determined by the economic health and population of the country. Italy, Germany, and France have suggested that they'll support the quota system, and do their share.

The UK, however, has already announced that it will be exercising its right to opt out of the legislation. The newly elected Conservative government, aware of how sensitive the immigration debate is in the UK, is avoiding the issue. UK Home Secretary Theresa May said that "the present situation in the Mediterranean is intolerable", before going on to say that "we can not do anything which encourages more people to make these perilous journeys".

Instead, the UK is focusing more on supplying ships and helicopters to assist with search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, and it continues to be a significant aid donor to many of the countries that the migrants are coming from.

But Italy's under-secretary for European affairs, Sandro Gozi, made an interesting point. "It is up to the UK to decide whether to opt out or not from the system we are building, remembering that when you opt out from a decision, you opt out also from the debate, and you opt out from how to shape new policies."

As I recently suggested, the issue of migrants being smuggled across the Mediterranean in unsafe boats is a complicated one, and can't just be solved with some helicopters and a "hard line stance". The UK's reluctance to be a part of the solution for the migrants who have already made it to Europe suggests that it's lacking political courage. I hope that it's just that the government is still sleeping off the hangover from last week's surprise election win.