European administration of consular protection

Abstract

This paper seeks to review the evolution of consular protection management in the European Union. The process of Europeanisation has reached its current profile through three stages of evolution and we are likely to see further institutionalisation, with several available alternatives. The historical analysis outlines the rationale for a further process of Europeanisation in the light of changes in the legislative powers of the EU, exploring the nature of legal regulatedness and aligning it with the development of fundamental rights, and presents a prognosis for the next stage of development in the light of experience to date. The research findings, based on an analysis of normative rules of various origins, regulatory and binding, preparatory documents, official statistics and reports as primary sources, and literature on specific aspects of the subject, also suggest that an effective consular protection policy will require changes in the tasks and competences in the next development stage. The existing consular enforcement apparatus in the Member States should be better integrated with the network of EU delegations, at least for some of the specified consular protection tasks. This raises further regulatory issues, but it is undeniable that the Europeanisation of consular protection administration is moving in this direction.