Asylum Policy: The EU's 'Crises' and the Looming Policy Regime Failure (original) (raw)
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The Evolution of EU Law, 2021
In the following sections, we explore evolution and stasis in EU asylum law and policy. We identify two tensions at the heart of the CEAS, between the commitment to protection and deflection of protection obligations, and between internal mobility within the EU and the immobilization of asylum seekers and refugees. We note the role of these foundational tensions in generating and exacerbating the ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015/16. This chapter is premised on a widely-shared understanding of the role of EU asylum policy in that crisis, namely that by illegalizing the travel of asylum seekers and refugees in search of protection, it contributes to the dangerous mass flight, which in turn generates humanitarian and political crises. We then analyse four key dimensions of EU asylum policy in light of these tensions: access to asylum, responsibility-allocation, legislative harmonisation, and institutionalised practical co-operation. Across these four fields, we identify the limits of EU law, and its general stasis, in spite of changes in Treaty telos, law-making processes, and EU enlargement. We briefly consider the role of the CJEU, still very much in the shadow of the ECtHR in asylum, in spite of its numerous rulings on the CEAS. Overall, we demonstrate its fairly minimalist approach in this area, avoidance of controversial cases by dubious use of inadmissibility findings, and failure to catalyse policy changes. Against this backdrop of legislative, political and judicial caution and inertia, we identify two key trends: a move towards greater institutional cooperation, including through the creation of a dedicated agency, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), and a general flight from law in this policy field. We conclude by considering the likely impact of these trends on EU asylum law.
The External Dimension of EU Asylum Policy: Gaining Momentum or Fading Away?
ISMU Working Paper, 2015
The asylum challenge currently faced by the European Union (EU) has a clear connection with the steep increase in migration flows through the Mediterranean Sea experienced in the last couple of years. Indeed, a large proportion of migrants attempting the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean are asylum seekers, fleeing from wars and authoritarian regimes. The EU is committed to establishing a Common European Asylum System (CEAS), based on common rules and uniform standards. In this context, due to the global character of the asylum issue, the ‘external’ dimension of the CEAS is central to providing comprehensive and long-lasting solutions. Against this backdrop, this paper assesses the role of the EU as a global actor in the field of asylum. Taking as a starting point insights from the literature on EU external action, the main components that build up the external dimension of EU asylum policy are taken into account: legal competences, strategic documents, and concrete policy initiatives implemented so far. Regarding the latter aspect, three areas of action are analysed: regional protection pro- grammes, the joint EU resettlement programme, and humanitarian visas and the external pro- cessing of asylum claims. The paper concludes by highlighting Member States’ lack of political commitment, inter-institutional tensions, and the overlaps between EU and national initiatives as the main challenges to increase coherence of EU external action in the field of asylum.
The European Union and the Return of the Nation State
The European Union officially proclaims to have a common asylum policy. However, the common treaties leave a great deal of discretion to the individual member countries, which allow them to regulate refugee migration while still upholding international treaties. Member countries have authority over border controls, the processing of asylum applications as well as economic benefits provided to refugees. We show that the differences in refugee flows are so extensive and systematic that the existence of a common EU asylum policy is debatable. The commitments made by the member countries are largely voluntary, and asylum policy is mainly determined at the national level. The discrepancies between the member countries strongly signal that the European Union may not be an optimal region for a common asylum policy. An asylum policy should instead be determined at the national level concordant with the regional and local level, where integration measures are implemented in practice. Meanwhile, the European Union can play an important role through refugee aid to afflicted countries, treaties with third countries, rescue actions in the Mediterranean and control of the external EU borders.
Setting policy on asylum: Has the EU got it right?
IZA World of Labor, 2015
Pros Viewing refugees as a public good provides a basis for cooperation among countries. International cooperation can enable better outcomes for refugees and for host country populations if the policies are appropriate. Large strides have been made in developing the EU's Common European Asylum System. Some foundations have been laid for the development of a truly EU-wide policy that focuses on the distribution of refugees. Public opinion is more supportive of supra-national policies than is often believed. ELEVaToR PiTCH Policy toward asylum-seekers has been controversial. Since the late 1990s, the EU has been developing a Common European Asylum System, but without clearly identifying the basis for cooperation. Providing a safe haven for refugees can be seen as a public good and this provides the rationale for policy coordination between governments. But where the volume of applications differs widely across countries, policy harmonization is not sufficient. Burdensharing measures are needed as well, in order to achieve an optimal distribution of refugees across member states. Such policies are economically desirable and are more politically feasible than is sometimes believed. aUTHoR'S main mESSaGE Offering a safe haven for refugees can be viewed as a public good, and this provides a basis for cooperation on asylum policies across EU countries. The Common European Asylum System has harmonized policies, but harmonization has not improved the severe imbalance in the distribution of asylum applications across countries. The most realistic option would be to first set the central policy to obtain the optimal number for all the countries together and then to reallocate asylumseekers to obtain the "right" number for each country. The deeper policy integration that this would require is more feasible than is sometimes believed. Cons Policy harmonization between EU countries is not sufficient to gain the full benefits of cooperation on asylum policies. Deeper integration of policies would be required to ensure an appropriate distribution of refugees. Loss of national control of asylum policy may present political challenges for member states. Closer cooperation between developed countries is only really possible within the framework of the EU. Deeper policy integration, while helpful, would have only a small impact on the world refugee problem. Setting policy on asylum: Has the EU got it right? Harmonizing asylum policies, a noble goal, does not produce the best outcomes for refugees or host country populations
Common Laws, Diverse Outcomes: Can EU Asylum Initiatives Lead to More Effective Refugee Protection?
euce.org
It is often said that European cooperation on asylum has led to the development of ‗Fortress Europe', as asylum policies have become more restrictive and asylum seekers find it increasingly difficult to reach European territory and benefit from effective protection. There can be little doubt that there have been restrictive asylum policy trends in most, if not all, destination countries and there are many examples of how existing laws have failed asylum seekers in need of protection. We argue, however, that there is little evidence for the claim that steps towards a common European asylum policy have been responsible for, or exacerbated, such developments. On the contrary, we argue that European cooperation on asylum has curtailed regulatory competition among the Member States and that in doing so it has largely halted the race to the bottom in protection standards in the EU. Rather than leading to policy harmonisation at the ‗lowest common denominator', EU asylum laws have frequently led to an upgrading of domestic asylum laws in several Member States, strengthening protection standards for several groups of forced migrants even in those cases where EU laws have been widely criticised for their restrictive character. It is reasonable to expect that the ongoing ‗communitarisation' of asylum policy will improve Member States' implementation records of EU asylum law and further improve refugee protection outcomes in Europe. On an empirical level, aspects of EU asylum and refugee policy have been criticized for their undermining of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees through the establishment of restrictive EU laws in areas such as ‗safe third country' policy, detention and return policy. There can be little doubt that there have been restrictive asylum policy trends in most, if not all, destination countries and many examples of how existing laws have failed asylum seekers in need of protection. We argue, however, that there is little evidence for the argument that in Europe steps towards a common European asylum policy have been responsible for such restrictive developments. On the contrary, we argue that European cooperation in this area has curtailed regulatory competition and in doing so it has largely halted the race to the bottom in protection standards in the EU. Rather than leading to policy harmonisation at the ‗lowest common denominator', EU asylum laws have led to an upgrading of domestic asylum laws in several Member States, strengthening protection standards for groups of forced migrants even in the case of EU laws that have been widely criticised for their restrictive character. While there currently remain significant variations in Member States' implementation of EU asylum law, we expect that the ongoing ‗communitarisation' of asylum policy will improve Member States' implementation records of EU asylum law and strengthen refugee protection outcomes in Europe.
EU Asylum Policy: In Search of Solidarity and Access to Protection
The European asylum system is a relatively advanced regional protection framework, in both legislative and policy terms. However, that same system lacks a mechanism to distribute responsibility fairly among the Member States, as well as legal avenues by which persons in need of protection can access it. To the backdrop of the Syrian crisis and the rising toll of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, this brief analyses achievements and shortcoming in the area of solidarity and fair-sharing of responsibility between Member States, as well as the external dimension of EU’s common asylum system. In view of the adoption by the European Commission of a “European Agenda on Migration”, it offers tangible ideas for EU policy action that could meaningfully develop this policy and help address the humanitarian tragedy on the EU’s borders.
Pressure on national asylum systems due to increasing numbers of asylum seekers and the opening of internal borders have led to cooperation at a common level since 1980. However, the EU laws and policies on asylum have mainly focused on the reduction of asylum claims rather than creating a fair and accessible asylum system. This has raised a concern whether it is compatible with the commitment of the EU to protect the right to seek refugee status within its territory. The main aim of this dissertation is to analyse the EU common asylum policy and its compatibility with the right to seek asylum under the Universal Declaration of Human Right. To this aim, after describing and analysing on the international protection regime and its limitations for refugees, the thesis will extensively examine the EU asylum policy and its restrictive policies. These restrictive policies under the non-arrival and non-admission policies such as visa requirements, carrier sanctions, the safe third country concept and readmission agreements are aimed at preventing asylum seekers from arriving at EU territory and from accessing asylum determination procedures. In analysing these policies, this thesis will demonstrate how the EU has developed strict policies to be protected from refugees entering its territory and undermined the right to seek asylum and its non-refoulement obligation. This thesis therefore, suggests that the EU should support and encourage stability and the development of refugee-producing countries rather than focusing on discouraging asylum seekers with restrictive policies.
The evolving EU asylum and migration law
in Evangelia (Lilian) Tsourdi and Philippe De Bruycker (eds), Research Handbook on EU Asylum and Migration Law (Edward Elgar 2022) , 2022
This chapter introduces the Research Handbook on EU Migration and Asylum Law and provides a holistic panorama of the development of EU’s migration and asylum policies, characterised both by evolution and by stasis, drawing from the contributions in the collection as well as from our own research. We analyse the content and level of refinement of legislative harmonisation in EU’s asylum, legal migration, return and irregular migration, visa, external border control, and integration policies. We then focus on the development of the administrative component of EU’s migration and asylum policies using the interdisciplinary framework of administrative governance and exploring four issues: responsibility assignation in the EU asylum policy, EU agencies, EU funding, and migration databases. Finally, we critically assess the external dimension of EU’s asylum and migration policies stricto sensu but also the broader embedding of migration management imperatives in EU’s external relations.
ISMU Working Paper, 2017
The increasingly protracted character of many displacement situations worldwide has led the in- ternational community to introduce innovative approaches to durable solutions for refugees and Internally displaced persons (IDPs). Specifically, international initiatives have focused on two main areas of action: a) strengthening the nexus between humanitarian and development interventions in the context of forced displacement situations; b) introducing legal pathways to protection for refugees through resettlement and other humanitarian and non-humanitarian channels. The emerging of the above-mentioned international agenda has triggered a parallel revision of the Eu- ropean Union (EU) external action in the field of asylum and refugee protection, a process that has gained further momentum as a consequence of increasing migration and asylum flows experienced by Europe since 2014. This Working paper explores the ways in which different approaches to durable solutions have been framed at the EU level and analyses the main strategic orientations and initiatives adopted by the EU in this policy domain.
Development of the Eu Asylum Policy: Preventing the Access to Protection
2004
, 146 pages This thesis analyzes the ignored humanitarian concerns in the development of the EU Asylum Policy. As a result of the strict migration control concerns, EU has engaged in forming a new regional refugee protection system which is tacitly based on limiting the access of protection seekers to the EU territories. In that context, the thesis aims to assess the scope and impact of the externalizing tendencies in the EU asylum policy development and thereby aims to attract the attention to the contradiction that EU falls in its human rights and refugee protection commitments while trying to prevent refugees from arriving to the Union's territories. To this aim, after giving a general account of the development of EU Asylum competence, the thesis will extensively deal with the pre-entry and the post-entry access prevention measures which act to serve to this access prevention strategy. Under pre-entry access prevention measures, the thesis will deal with the visa requirement, carrier sanctions and other complementary tools which prevent the protection seekers from ever arriving at the EU territory. Under the post-entry access prevention mechanisms the thesis will analyze the 'safe third country' and 'host third country' implementations and readmission agreements which aim to divert the v protections seekers summarily out of the EU territories. In analyzing these policies, the thesis will try to demonstrate how EU Member States try to shirk their nonrefoulment obligation, which is the heart of the refugee protection regime, through applying legitimate deemed means.