The work argues that the EU is legally responsible for fundamental rights violations in the EU hotspots. In a doctrinally precise, theoretically ambitious and empirically sound manner, it begins with an overview of the EU’s role in the European asylum administration since 2015. It then presents the integrated EU hotspot administration and its systemic deficits. On this basis, it establishes the EU’s legal responsibility under EU liability law, discussing the central questions of attribution and causation in great detail. The work is of interest to all those who deal with the European asylum system in an academic, journalistic, legal, administrative or political capacity.