Towards a Common European Space for Asylum (original) (raw)

The Common European Asylum System and the 2015 European refugee crisis

This thesis approaches the topic of migration and asylum seeking within the European Union and analyzes the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Through the use of the theory of intergovernmentalism it argues how CEAS was created and how states were able to bargain in order to cede control over irregular migrants to the European Union. Then by using the theory of securitization, it is argued that migration became securitized which lead Member States to reclaim power over migration and asylum seeking. It will argue that the European Union's response to the large increase in irregular migration into EU territory in 2015 shows the limits of the European institutional framework in the asylum policy. While there is much cooperation within the European Union, when faced with security issues, of which migration and asylum are a part, Member States are reticent of giving up sovereignty.

The New Political Geography of Migration in Europe Between External Borders and Internal Freedom of Movement

Bullettin of the Serbian Geographical Society, 2016

The creation of the Schengen area has modified the political geography of migration with important implications from a variety of perspectives, all of which affect the migration management policies of EU member States as well as those of third countries. On the one hand, the Schengen area established the first supranational border in the history of Europe; on the other hand, it obliged a small group of countries (those bordering non-EU States) to monitor the new border, manage refugee flows and repatriate illegal migrants from third countries, despite often being unprepared to tackle the migration phenomenon. The policies implemented in both the Mediterranean and continental countries have revealed a lack of long-term vision in dealing with several migration related issues. Currently, the absence of a single EU migration policy, the egocentric approach of some non-Mediterranean European countries and the re-emergence of border walls characterize the context. Nevertheless, migration flows and terrorism in Europe represent significant opportunities to strengthen the common European area, rather than weakening it. Moreover, evidence suggests that such global phenomena are better addressed at a supranational level rather than on a national basis.

The Refugee Crisis and the Reinvigoration of the Nation-State: Does the European Union Have a Common Asylum Policy?

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.

The Twofold (Internal and External) Dimension of European Union's Migration and Asylum Policies: Recent Cases and Future Scenarios

EURINT, 2018

European Union's policies on migration and asylum raise double-ditched problems. In the EU, the latter's Court stated that in these areas solidarity is a binding principle: consequently, EU Member States must comply with EU decisions assigning quotas of international protection seekers to each EU State. The paper inspects also agreements between, on one hand, EU Member States (or the EU as such) and, on the other, non-EU countries as origin or transit States of international protection seekers with the view of relocating such individuals to those latter countries. This practice raises doubts if latter countries were deemed non-safe states, e.g. in case they weren't part to 1951 Geneva Convention. These issues are relevant for the development of relations between EU and its member states as well as in the perspective that EU performs its international legal personality in full compliance to international law rules on migration and human rights protection.

The Pact on Migration and Asylum: Turning the European Territory into a Non-territory

european journal of migration and law , 2022

Can a part of the territory of the European Union be turned into a "non-territory" where the fundamental rights of the migrants and asylum seekers to appeal and to remain in their destination country while their applications are examined, and the right for an individual assessment in line with international standards, are as it were contracted, owing to the very attributes of this "non-territory"? This article argues that the Pact on Migration and Asylum, in particular with the pre-entry screening and the new border procedures, subtly develops and consolidates policies and rules aimed at "deterritorializing" the territory of the EU while reinforcing its practices of externalization. Moreover, this unprecedented deterritorializationexternalization combination, in order to produce tangible policy results, presupposes the cooperation of third countries on expulsion and readmission, as well as more solidarity among the Member States. Having critically examined these two dimensions, the authors conclude that the new measures contained in the Pact might be conducive to the enhanced precarization of the legal positions of migrants and asylum seekers and to potential tensions with strategic third countries.

The Changing Spatiality of the " European Refugee/Migrant Crisis "

Migracijske i etničke teme/Migration and Ethnic Themes, 2017

The " European refugee/migrant crisis " is a geopolitical designation with which the media, politics and the general public have labelled the arrival of a large number of refugees into the European Union in 2015 and 2016. The article analyses the spatial distribution of asylum seekers in the European Union during the 2011–2016 period. It focuses on how changes of the border regimes on the external and internal borders of the European Union have influenced the movement of asylum seekers and the spatial distribution of asylum applications during the " crisis ". It raises attention to the growing importance of the militarisation of borders and the securitisation of migration flows for the spatial distribution of the asylum applicants. The research is based on the analysis of the Eurostat data on the total number of asylum applicants in member states between 2011 and 2016. Although changes in border regimes were not the only factor influencing the spatial distribution of asylum seekers during the " European refugee/migrant crisis " , their effects can be used to demonstrate the restrictions asylum seekers are facing on their journey. The main aim of the article is to reflect on the use of the geographical designation " Europe " / " European " in the context of the " refugee/migrant crisis ". Using this designation creates the perception of a unified, borderless space, in which individuals can freely choose their asylum destination. The discourse of " the European refugee/migrant crisis " often presents the European Union as " an open asylum shopping centre " in which asylum seekers can pick whatever host they want. The article opposes this notion and emphasises the limitations and the effect that contingency plays in the choice of asylum destination.

Migration and Asylum Policy Within EU. Causes, Needs, Strategic Policy and Evolutions

Ovidius University Annals: Economic Sciences Series, 2019

A number of European structures have been and are concerned about the phenomenon of migration that has involved Europe so dynamically in recent years, being the biggest challenge in the field, after World War II. The structures we refer to have participated in managing this phenomenon of migration by: reforming EU asylum rules, discouraging irregular migration, saving lives and securing external borders, implementing a strong common asylum policy, developing the new policy on legal migration and like. Thus, we aim to investigate the most important aspects of migration and asylum, including: the specific causes and needs related to Maslow's pyramid, legal and illegal migration, the way that some of the EU institutions have contributed to the migration and asylum reform and so on.