Immigration and asylum in EU today. A European challenge with

national implications

Immigration – a European issue

Since the 1970s immigration (and asylum) become from a purely national matter national competence in the 1960s 3rd pillar during the 1990s a shared competence after the Lisbon Treaty

To an increasingly European one

The development of migration flows to the EU

1950-1970: Legal, organized, national-centered, labor

1970-90: repatriation, integration, national-centered

1990-2010: irregular, individual, mixed migration flows increasingly extra-European

2010 – the rise of refugees

The legal aspects of immigration in EU

A shared competenceΑn area of freedom, security and justice Α common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and

temporary protection a common immigration policy

efficient management of migration flows fair treatment of third-country nationals residing legally prevention of illegal immigration

The legal aspects of immigration in EU

The right of Member States to determine volumes of admission of third-country nationals coming from third countries to their territory in order to seek work, whether employed or self-employed

The establishment of agencies EASO Frontex

The political context in the EU

The increased role of the European Commission a more assertive CommissionSpecific policy priorities

Qualified majority voting The sidestepping of national vetoThe variable geometry problems

The political context in the EU

Ordinary legislative procedureThe need to take into account the EP priorities

The added element of the increased judicial involvementThe role of the European Court of Justice

The context of immigration in the 21st century

The intensification of mixed migration flows after 2000

A rise of xenophobia and anti-immigrant positions In the public opinion (and, as a result, in public policies, too)

The perception of asylum as a means to by-pass immigration procedures

The context of immigration in the 21st century

The impact of the economic crisisThe drive to cut public spending, at national and EU

level, affected and shall affect asylum and integration policiesThe failure of integration in the face of increasing

Islamic radicaiization- and perception thereof The rising concern on benefits and rights

The gradual rise of the Mediterranean entry to the EU

The shift of irregular entries Sea and land/not air South rather than center Victims of conflicts rather than economic migrants

Mediterranean becomes the main point of entry of mixed migration flows

The overburdening of the reception systems

The intra-EU tensions

Irregular migration becomes trans-border Secondary movements within the EU

The influence of the Dublin systemThe gradual dispute between center and periphery of Europe

The institutional imbalancesThe diverging positions of MS and the EU institutions

The Dublin system: the crux of the intra-EU strife

Dublin-III regulation: a mechanism to allocate responsibility for examining an asylum application

The responsibility on the EU MS state of the first irregular entry

The effects of the Syrian civil war

The world's largest humanitarian crisis since World War II

The total number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria has reached 12.2 million, approximately 7.6 million of whom are internally displaced

The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries is) over 3.9 million



The result being

A significant increase in illegal entries of (potential) refugees and

A heavier burden on states with relatively weak and new asylum systems, and recent tradition in protection of migrants’ rights

As well as an increased divide between center and (especially Mediterranean) periphery in the EU

The way forward for a common EU policy on immigration and asylum

The inability of the present system to cater for the emergencies

Relocation of asylum seekersJoint processing of asylum applications

The exhaustion of national policiesTowards a common immigration status?

A reversal of EU integration in the field of immigration?National quotas?

Some useful litteratureHollifield-Martin-Orrenius” Controlling immigration: a global perspective”, 3rd ed. Stanford University Press, 2014

Ammar-Stern: “Human Rights Challenges in the Areas of Asylum and Immigration: EU Policies and Perspectives”. Austrian review of international and European law online, Vol. 16, issue, 1, pp, 191-221. 2014.

Carrera, Sergio and Gros, Daniel. (2015) What priorities for the new European agenda on migration? CEPS Commentary, 22 April 2015. [Policy Paper in http://aei.pitt.edu/63804/}

H. Brady “Mare Europaeum – tackling Mediterranean Migration”. European Union Institute for Security Studies Brief, 2014 (in www.mercury.ethz.ch)