Abstract
about the high number of asylum applications (compared to the mid-1980s) and their highly unequal distribution among countries. In Western Europe the absolute number of asylum applications rose sharply from about 150.000 in 1985 to more than 600.000 in 1992 before falling again, with ca 300.000 applications being recorded in 2000. Average annual asylum applications per head of population have been more than ten times higher in some of the most popular destination countries such as Switzerland and Sweden compared to the least popular ones such as Spain and Portugal. The relative distribution of asylum seekers across Europe has been quite volatile over the years, exemplified by the rapid rise of applications in the UK in recent years. Increasingly, differences in the relative restrictiveness of countries’ asylum regimes over time have come to be regarded as one of the principal reasons for disparities in asylum burdens and their variation over time. According to this view, host countries with a high relative number of applications will try to make their asylum policies more restrictive and other host countries will, as a result, become more attractive destination countries. This has sparked a heated debate about whether countries in which asylum applications have increased in recent years represent a ‘soft touch’ for asylum seekers and economic migrants using the asylum route alike. 1 It has also raised concerns that European countries as a result of the so-called ‘soft touch’ logic have become engaged in the competitive downgrading of refugee protection standards. In order to achieve a more stable and equitable distribution of asylum burdens and prevent a slide toward the lowest common denominator in protection standards, policy makers in Europe have turned to policy-harmonisation at the European level to achieve these objectives. Policy convergence in the field of asylum is seen as the key toward more equitable burden-sharing and less competition for the most effective deterrence measures. This article seeks to challenge the emerging consensus that sees EU policy harmonisation as a panacea for Europe’s burden-sharing problems in this area. It will be shown that the relative restrictiveness of a country’s asylum policy is only one
Highlights
On 23 September 2020, the European Commission unveiled its longawaited New Pact on Migration and Asylum
Aiming to mark a “fresh start on migration”, the Commission put forward a complex package of five new legislative proposals, three recommendations and one guidance, with further legislative initiatives to follow in the coming year.[1]
Many ideas in the proposals build on existing policies or rehearse earlier ideas for policy reform, prompting some commentators to brand the Pact as “old wine in new bottles”
Summary
On 23 September 2020, the European Commission unveiled its longawaited New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Our analysis is informed by a review of earlier implementation difficulties in the EU’s asylum and returns acquis These include, amongst others, difficulties stemming from overly administration- and coordination-heavy procedures; issues related to a lack of trust among Member States in implementing common EU policies; difficulties in ensuring that EU migration policy measures are implemented in line with higher principles of EU law, notably human rights standards; as well as problems stemming from a misalignment between the EU’s return and readmission agenda and broader (e.g., security-oriented) foreign affairs objectives. Addressing these challenges during and after the negotiations will, in our view, be critical for the proposal’s ability to deliver on the ground
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