EU Migration Policy Research Articles

Security-centric approach in the use of digital technologies in EU migration and asylum policies

ABSTRACT The rapid evolution of digital technology, particularly in the domain of surveillance and identification, has brought forth a multitude of implications for the European Union’s approach to migration, asylum and border control. The use of digital technologies at the EU's external borders has emerged as a critical point of contention. By referring to ‘security-centric approach’ to describe the expansion of national security-related uses of digital technologies in migration and asylum, the article unveils the extent to which security considerations have permeated the use of digital technologies in this area. The analysis aims to demonstrate the predominance of this security focus and only a marginal role of efficiency, convenience and market needs objectives in the use of digital technologies in EU migration, asylum and border control policies.

The European Commission and the migration-development nexus: accessing resources and increasing the mandate

ABSTRACT The migration-development nexus (MDN) denotes interdependencies between international migration and development. The article identifies six different causal relations between migration and development in the scientific literature and applies them to understand EU policy on the nexus. At EU level, the nexus often serves the central policy objective of limiting irregular migration to Europe, the so-called root causes approach. Yet, contrary to prior research, this article finds that an opposing nexus conceptualization that calls for enabling migration is actually the dominant causality promoted by the European Commission. Unlike studies that explain the dominance of the root causes approach as a lowest-common-denominator choice, this article argues that the Commission’s DGs also use the nexus strategically. They promote contradictory approaches, which however all call for an increased Commission mandate and financial resources, selectively omitting those nexus frames that would decrease their role. The migration literature often relegates the MDN to a sub-theme of migration policy. This study shows that MDN is central to the entire EU migration policy area and transpires much of its migration discourse. The nexus and its conceptualizations are thus instrumental for broader migration policy debates beyond the EU as they touch upon demographics, social security, and welfare questions.

Strategising solidarity: an examination of the Visegrád group’s role and motivations in EU migration policies

ABSTRACT The V4’s opposition to common internal migration policies has often been explained through their lack of affectedness by migration and their anti-immigrant publics. Yet, the V4 have taken a key role in external EU migration policies and become the third largest donor under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. Through this theory testing case study, we argue that international standing and reputation, as well as an attempt to remain both responsive to their electorates and responsible towards their European partners, were key motivations in adopting this role. Our evidence suggests that the V4 supported external and border policies to demonstrate cooperativeness and responsibility to those European partners who had previously criticised their lack of solidarity. They did so in the external dimension, as this area was much less salient for their domestic audiences, allowing them to also remain responsive to domestic voters as well.

An EU Sustainable Migration: Institutional Discourse and Migration Politics

AbstractFrom 2015 to 2016 onwards, migration has been subjected to intense political contestation within EU Member States. In this context, sustainable migration has become the new overarching objective of the Commission. Despite the various references to sustainable migration, a closer investigation of EU migration law and policy does not provide a coherent picture of the legal implications of this concept. This article examines the links between sustainability and migration in EU law and policy and suggests that sustainable migration should be perceived as a political concept that was central for EU migration politics following the so‐called migration crisis. Sustainable migration is a powerful tool at the hands of the Commission and has been used to forge consensus between Member States that might profoundly disagree on the future of EU migration. At the same time, the concept offers little guidance in terms of legal obligations for the protection of migrants.

Producing labour stratification: how migration policies affect the working, living and housing conditions of migrant farmworkers

ABSTRACT Based on a long-term investigation of migrant farmworkers within the Sicilian agricultural districts, this paper aims to use the lens of migratory stratification to scrutinize the various changes that have occurred in the agricultural sector over the past decade. Drawing on ethnographic data from an empirical study conducted on the working and living conditions of migrant farmworkers, this paper will shed light on the economic and social stratification strategies fostered by EU migration policies. In line with the issues addressed in this special issue, the paper analyses how migrant regulatory procedures have resulted in the deterioration of migrant farmworkers’ working, living and housing conditions. Before the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, the stratification of migrant farmworkers was mainly based on country of origin and involved labourers due to different times of arrival and legal status; with the onset of the ‘refugee crisis’, the mechanisms of stratification and labour substitution mainly involved asylum seekers.

Addressing Algorithmic Errors in Data-Driven Border Control Procedures

Abstract The gradual digitization of EU migration policies is turning external borders into AI-driven filters that limit access to fundamental rights for people from third countries according to risk indicators. An unshakeable confidence in the reliability of technological devices and their ability to predict the future behaviour of incoming foreigners is leading towards the datafication of EU external frontiers. What happens if the supposedly infallible algorithms are wrong? The article aims to understand the consequences of algorithmic errors on the lives of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the European Union. This contribution investigates the socio-political implications of deploying data-driven solutions at the borders in an attempt to problematize the techno-solutionist approach of EU migratory policies and its fundamental rights impact on affected individuals.

MIGRATION POLICY DIRECTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION FOR FOREIGN SKILLED WORKERS: SUPRANATIONAL LEVEL

The innovative development of the economies of the European Union continuously increases the demand for skilled professionals, which cannot be met solely through internal labor resources (intra-European mobility). In this regard, labor migration, particularly the stimulation of the influx of foreign skilled workers, plays a vital role in addressing the imbalance of supply and demand in the European labor market. This article examines the migration policy instruments of the European Union, applied at the supranational level and aimed at mitigating the imbalance between the growing demand for skilled professionals and the limited supply in the regional labor market. It argues that the overall vector of the EU's migration policy, as an integration union, is oriented towards attracting and accumulating potential (foreign students, interns, doctoral candidates) and actual skilled professionals within its territory, in line with the current and future needs of the European labor market, thereby contributing to the achievement of the strategic goals of the social, economic, and innovative development of the EU.

EU migration policy in the context of military actions in Ukraine and the world

EU migration policy in the context of military actions in Ukraine and the world

Criminalization of the immigration in the EU and protection of procedural rights

Serbia is a transit country for migrants on their way to the EU via the Western Balkan route. In 2015-2016, millions of migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia used the Western Balkan route to reach the EU countries. Serbia as the EU candidate country has to fulfil the requirement of cooperation with the EU in the area of managing migratory flows through efficient control of its borders jointly with the EU officers. In order for Serbia to reinforce the border management, it is important to understand the EU migration policy. Although the Tampere European Council Conclusion from 1999 and the European Agenda on Migration from 2015 declared the EU commitments to develop legal access to vulnerable individuals, in practice migration is perceived as a threat to security. As a result of this approach the preventive and repressive criminal law measures were introduced in the immigration law. The European member state authorities selectively use criminal law to achieve the migration policy goals. The criminal law measures that are applied across the EU are detention, arrest, police control, removal from the territory. However, there is criticism that these criminal law measures are not followed by criminal law guarantees, especially procedural rights and human rights protection instruments. The analysis is put in context of the Return Directive 2008/115 that sets the EU standards and procedures on return of illegally staying migrants. In this article the author analyses the effects of immigration criminalization and the development of the Court of Justice jurisprudence in relation to the procedural rights.

EU migration policy: policy of humanism vs threat to national security

Uncontrolled migration sweeping Europe is a priority of the political leadership led by a number of European states such as France, Italy, as well as their allies in the United States. The climate crisis in Europe also plays an important role here, which can be resolved, according to Germany, with the help of future “new citizens” who arrived from countries in Africa and the Middle East, exclusively with a Muslim population. What are the migration and immigrant policies in EU countries? How is the immigration policy of European countries being transformed? A detailed analysis of the current state of affairs in Europe is based on official data from the national statistical services of Germany, France, Great Britain, the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia, the Department of Civil Liberty and Immigration of the Italian Republic, as well as international organizations - the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Eurostat, World Bank. The article examines the security problem in connection with the penetration of radical Islam along with refugees. The authors reveal the consequences of the migration crisis in Europe and make an attempt to answer the question: is the reception and integration of refugees an act of humanity or a problem of national security for EU countries.

France’s Migration Policy under President E. Macron: A European Dimension

This article explores the current approach of France to the issue of regulating migration in the context of Emmanuel Macron’s European diplomacy. Today the French government believes that taking part in the elaboration of a common EU migration and asylum policy is a necessary addition to the measures at home, paying particular attention to this topic since 2017. On the basis of public speeches, international documents and the elements of comparative analysis, the article summarizes the main initiatives put forward by France at European level and the challenges they faced. It points out that a part of Emmanuel Macron’s proposals regarding the governance of the Schengen area and the strengthening of the external borders control was implemented to some extent (taking into account the buildup of border capacities or the establishment of the “Schengen Council”), even if these proposals did not fully correspond to his initial project. On the contrary, France’s bilateral relations with its major neighbors (Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom or Italy) demonstrated a generally controversial dynamics because the partnerships on migration issues clearly depended on the political parties in power. In this regard, Italy, with the pro-European periods quickly followed by sovereignist shifts, looks like a particularly illustrative example. Moreover, numerous steps proposed by Paris to deal with the migration fl ows outside Europe often lacked any details and common ground with the partners. This is particularly noticeable in the African direction where French eff orts, from settling regional confl icts to restoring dialogue with Maghreb countries, produced insuffi cient results. The article concludes that from 2017 to 2023, France continued to seek balance between “responsible” and “solidarity-based” approaches to migration policy at the European level, and this would be the case until the end of current presidency. Yet, in 2027, the situation could change according to ideological preferences of Macron’s successor.

New Migration Trends in the EU Countries: Disagreements, Compromises, Prospects

The article describes specifics and new migration tendencies in EU countries after the crisis of 2015. The author examines situation with migrants and asymmetric approach of the European states to these problems using methods of comparative and statistical analysis. The study identifi ed the causes of disagreements within the European Union, lack of balance between national and supranational levels of EU migration policy, especially during crisis, weakness of integration in migration sphere. The processes of sub-regionalization are analyzed in the article, they intensifi ed after migration crisis and led to disconnection between European states. The special approach of the EU countries to Ukranian refugees is noted in this study and main reasons are more political than humanitarian. Different forecasts of migration process are considered. The author makes a conclusion that volatility and unpredictability of migration and multiplicity of different factors influence the forecasts and scenarios, especially medium and long-term and requires more complicated methods, criteria and system analysis. The growth of migration flows in EU countries is wave-like and depends on social, political and economic situation in receiving and origin countries. These processes are irreversible and difficult to resolve within European Union.

The EU in motion through emotions: Fear and migration policy in the Euro-Mediterranean context

ABSTRACT Since the 1990s, migration has featured prominently in Euro-Mediterranean relations. The EU migration policy has progressively shifted from a normative-comprehensive approach tackling the root causes of migration through development aid towards a control-oriented toolbox designed to immediately stop migration flows to Europe. This change has blemished the EU’s image as a normative power and contravened the region-building logic of the Barcelona Process. Contributing to the emotional turn in European Foreign Policy, this article argues that this shift corresponds to the behaviour of an actor under the grip of fear. The securitization of migration has permeated the EU institutions and contributed to the social construction of fear, leading to the emergence of fearful emotional practices. Based on the emotion discourse analysis of relevant EU documents, this article highlights the importance of fear as driver of policy change, triggering the EU to deviate from its own normative commitments in its external relations.

UKRAINIAN MIGRATION TO EUROPE AT THE PERIOD OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR: POLITICS OF REGULATION

Russia’s full-scaled invasion to Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022, which is still on, has become a new challenge for a modern world and has caused more problems to regional and global development as well as provoked colossal forced migration flows of Ukrainian citizens. The migration that according to researchers has no analogues and significantly surpasses all the previous ones. A massive influx of refugees from Ukraine added significant problems to migrant’s crisis of Europe, that was which was caused by the previous colossal influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa, complicating its humanitarian component. The relevance of the study of these processes is constantly growing and proves that migration is not only a social, political, but also a scientific problem, which requires a significant consolidation of the forces of the scientific community in order to solve the problems caused by these processes. The subject of analysis of this work is the forced migration of Ukrainian citizens and its consequences, provoked precisely by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The article analyzes the theoretical surveys of Ukrainian researchers in the study of Ukrainian emigration to Europe. Its features are determined in comparison with other types of migration. The problems of linguistic, value-cultural, psychological and social adaptation are outlined on the basis of the analysis of the results of sociological surveys and numerous examples of the return of migrants to Ukraine. An analysis of multilateral humanitarian assistance to refugees and the main directions of the EU policy regarding the regulation of migration flows from February 2022 to the summer of 2023 was carried out. A large number of documents that formed the normative and legal basis of the EU migration policy in relation to Ukrainian refugees, as well as cooperation with various institutions of Ukraine, were developed. Different aspects of the consequences of forced migration for Ukraine are defined.

Impact of labour migration on international business environment

It has been established that international migration contributes to optimizing the distribution of human capital, reducing interregional differences, and improves the functioning of labour markets, the international business environment of host countries and countries of origin. A generalization of the results of previous empirical studies suggests that the positive effect of migration is higher than the negative effects of impact on national markets, while this impact is different for highly and low skilled workers, for firms and employees, and for producers and consumers. In the host countries, migration allows filling job positions in what the indigenous population does not agree to work, contributes to the expansion of production and lowering of the tax burden on the working population. In countries of origin, migration reduces unemployment and makes the national labour market more flexible. Thus, international labour migration opens up new opportunities for the socio-economic development of host EU member states, provoking a large number of problems both at the level of society and the state. The current stage of integration processes in the EU is accompanied by the rapid development of external migration processes, so the unified EU migration policy must be implemented taking into account the problems associated with the mass flows of immigrants to European countries, the consequences of the financial and economic crisis, the current trends in European labour markets, and the real needs of these labour markets. It should be noted that the existence of a direct link between migration and the unemployment rate and difference in income makes it possible to empirically confirm one of the main tenets of the neoclassical macro-level theory that migration arises as a result of the difference in income between regions (countries) and the existence of labour surplus in the region where the migrants come from. Consequently, workers migrate from low-wage and labour surplus regions to high-wage and labour shortage regions. Thus, a migrant's goal is to maximize its income and minimize its costs.

Playing on distance: a relational rhetorical analysis of Viktor Orbán's Euroscepticism

ABSTRACT Viktor Orbán has been a key figure in increasing the role Euroscepticism plays in European integration. By developing a new relational approach to rhetorical political analysis, this article examines how Orbán uses Eurosceptic rhetoric to move the largely pro-EU Hungarian public towards an EU-critical position. By analysing the Hungarian Prime Minister's speeches and interviews, it identifies three strategies of Eurosceptic positioning, political, cultural, and democratic, by which Orbán strategically creates distance between the EU and Hungarian voters regarding the EU's migration policy. Orbán's dynamic positioning expressed through his Eurosceptic rhetoric allows him to be pro- and anti-integrationist simultaneously.

Parochialism and Non‐co‐operation: The Case of Poland's Opposition to EU Migration Policy

AbstractEU policy responses to the migration crisis caused by the Russian war against Ukraine challenge existing explanations of EU migration policy, which have typically leaned on economic rationales. This study leans on public attitudes to shed light on Poland's opposition to migration co‐operation across three recent European migration crises: Syria (2015), Belarus (2021) and Ukraine (2022). Throughout these crises, Poland has become a significant migration border country and one of the top refugee‐receiving countries. We build an analytical framework for exploring how the Polish government instrumentalised ‘parochial attitudes’ that prioritise sovereignty, locality and the in‐group and exclude out‐groups, and we analyse Poland's (op)position to EU co‐operation on migration through this lens. Using survey data, policy documents, 83 media articles and 10 interviews with policy‐makers and experts, we demonstrate that Poland's position on EU solidarity measures has remained static despite the dynamic, evolving circumstances and aligned with parochial attitudes amongst the public.

Migration Crisis as a Growing Threat to European Security (2015–2023)

The purpose of the article is to reflect the features of the ongoing migration crisis in Europe, its impact on the legal and institutional foundations of the European Union, the relations of the EU countries, the prospects for European unity. It is obvious that the causes of the migration crisis have changed little in recent years. Despite a certain stabilization of the situation in the Middle East, especially, in Syria, many millions of Arabs, Afghans, Africans still intend to move to what they consider to be a prosperous Europe. Millions of Ukrainian citizens have recently been added to them. At the same time, in the context of the ongoing crisis of the neoliberal model of globalization in the context of the rivalry of the great Powers, the migration challenge has acquired unprecedented acuteness and significance of an existential threat to European security. In 2022, European countries and supranational institutions of the EU signed their inability to adequately respond to the new aggravation of the migration crisis, which seems to have acquired a permanent, stable, and extremely destructive character. All attempts to curb illegal migration flows have proved futile and have created new problems, including in the relations of the EU member States. This is especially convincingly evidenced by the experience of Italy, which enjoys increased attention from migrants and refugees. Largely due to the aggravation of the problem under consideration in September 2022, the center-right coalition won the parliamentary elections in this country. The new government headed by Giorgia Meloni, faced with the migration crisis, is in search of optimal mechanisms for its settlement. Relying less and less on supranational institutions, it seeks to pursue a nationally oriented policy, without regard to Brussels. In the humanitarian activities of the institutions of the “global society” in the person of the NGOs, the Italian authorities note exclusively malicious, selfish, even criminal motives and defiantly refuse to cooperate with them. All this confirms the failure of the EU migration policy and testifies to the intensification of the erosion of European solidarity in the sensitive security sphere for the EU. On this basis, there is a clash of many interests, both “European solidarity” and the ability of the EU supranational structures to fend off new challenges to European security without violating the agreements reached on fundamental human rights are being tested.

European Union migration policy: Current problems and prospects for analysis

The aim of this study was to examine the migration policy of the European Union EU and to identify its strengths and problems requiring improvement. In order to achieve the objectives, set, international standards, EU legislation, the analysis of EU statistical data and the study of scientific opinions on the problem have been analyzed. It is concluded that the main areas of EU migration policy are the following: the principle of human rights and freedoms; political equality and mutual assistance of the member states of the union; border protection and prevention of illegal migration; integration and inclusion of migrants in the social phenomena of the receiving country; management of migration processes and migration management; negotiation and cooperation policies with third countries; ensuring “circular migration”; active participation of the labor force, particularly highly skilled workers; active participation of migrants in the labor market and of their families, which is a key factor for the success of migration.

Civil Society and Municipal Activism Around Migration in the EU: A Multi-Scalar Alliance-Making

ABSTRACT Civil society and municipal actors – and the interaction between one another – have become increasingly relevant in EU migration governance. Moving from this understanding, this article explores instances of migration activism in connection with the proactive and contentious role of cities. It does so through the in-depth analysis of the dual EU-wide network From the Sea to the City/International Alliance of Safe Harbours, which gathers numerous civil society initiatives and municipalities and aims to achieve a radical change in EU migration policies. Based on extensive empirical research, my contribution illustrates why the emergence of a multi-scalar alliance between civil society and municipal actors around migration is the result of the interaction between the political agency of these actors and the changing institutional opportunities and constraints at different governance levels. In doing so, it explores different spatial and political dimensions, from cities to transnational arenas, reflecting on their significance in the construction of an EU-wide contentious politics of migration.