immigration Flashcards
(25 cards)
how many people applied for asylum in the EU in 2015
1.26 million
how many people were found to be illegally present in the EU in 2015
over 2 million
four reasons why governments may be for a common EU immigration policy
supranationalism and the EU structure, burden-sharing, securitization and exogenous pressures and the threat of terrorism
four reasons why governments may be against a common EU immigration policy
burden-shifting, arguments that national level control is more effective, the role of media, and the rise of sovereignty, xenophobia and racism
how does the structure of EU institutions/supranationalism support a common EU policy
- As a supranational organisation, the EU aims to become an agent of integration and change, thereby aiming to influence member states behaviour, interests and identities in line with it’s own agenda – which in this case is towards a common immigration policy
two reasons why states are often reluctant to engage in substantial supranational legislation
- firstly down to the sensitivity of issues surrounding immigration policy within domestic politics which can lead to member states having reservations about handing over the responsibilities of this policy domain to the EU
- whilst supranational organisations have increased in power, cooperation between national law-enforcement authorities have deepened, leading to a complex network of actors which would make a common immigration policy hard to implement.
the notion that ___ _____ ____ over immigration policy is more effective than at a supranational level is a key pressure against a common EU policy
national level control
The policy domain of immigration has implications within other domestic policy areas such as ____ ___ _____ and therefore can be seen to ___ specific actors within the national politics if a common EU immigration policy was pursued
labour, economic and social affairs
diempower
states are unlikely relive the power over their internal borders unless what?
they are assured a common policy would provide the same level of protection with regard to persons arriving at external borders than their own border control would provide (Papademetriou, 1996). States must therefore be confident that a common policy and subsequent handing over of border controls will not only satisfy the collective goals of the European Union but also their national aims.
what did De Lobkowicz argue in regards to common EU immigration and asylum policy
De Lobkowicz argues that within the European Union, common policies on immigration and asylum are necessary as restrictive efforts by a single member state would be undermined by opposing policies of another state since “the free movement of persons also means free movement of illegal immigrants” (De Lobkowicz, 1994, p. 104). This highlights that in a union in which there is free movement within the internal borders, only having control over borders at a national level would not be sufficient
what is burden shifting
when member states within the EU are pressured to act independently and shift the ‘burden’ of the equal entry of migrants towards other countries, refugees and asylum seekers rather than share the ‘burden’ through cooperation towards a common immigration policy
why might countries with great geographic, cultural, economic or historical characteristics want to shift their ‘burden’
these countries will attract disproportionate number of immigrants in comparison to the rest of Europe due to the attractive features - features which will still attractive regardless of whether the ‘burden’ is proportionately shared and therefore may act as a pressure for countries to look to shift their burden in one way or another
as well as the physical burden, what other type of burden does immigration cause which countries may want to shift
economic
, a heavy influx of refugees may place a high level of pressure on social services and specific sectors within society which firstly may lead to resentment from the taxpayers and public which will lead to governments looking to tighten control over their own borders which a common policy wouldn’t allow. But may also lead to a strain on the state’s economy in sectors which other countries economies may need a demand for and could in turn strain the European economy as a whole unless the burden is appropriately shifted.
what is burden sharing
appropriately sharing the ‘burden’ of immigration in the EU is the best way to deal with the disproportionate number of immigrants to certain member states, and therefore is a pressure for a common EU immigration policy
three types of burden sharing
- , A common policy approach that looks to create common immigration laws and subsequently promote collective action to achieve equitable distribution of ‘burdens’ is referred to as ‘harmonizing policy legislation’.
- Secondly, there is the notion of physical burden sharing which aims to redistribute the proportion of migrants from one member country to another in order to equalise burdens.
- Lastly, the EU may seek to address ‘burdens’ though financial compensation to the most popular countries
an example of burden sharing and what does its success/failure highlight about a common asylum policy
The European Refugee Fund is an example of financial redistribution in order to share the ‘burden’ as it aims to support countries bearing the consequences of immigrants and refugees by dispersing financial aid proportionately to the burden on each member state. Although the European Refugee Fund was a step in the right direction towards collective action over the pressures of immigration in Europe, it has been largely unsuccessful in distributing any burdens and highlights that in order for a common EU immigration policy to be successful, all member states must be fully invested into taking collective action to share the burden as individual nation states will not be able cope with these problem single-handedly (Niemann, 2008).
what did the Schengen agreement (1985) highlight
the 1985 Schengen Agreement sparked concern about the organized crime entering Europe upon the elimination of internal borders, which in turn generated external pressures for closer cooperation
what was established in 2005 in order to provide assistance to countries facing urgent and exceptional pressure at their external borders and how much was its budget in 2012
The Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at External Borders (Frontex)
85 million in 2012
what recent events have made immigration a salient issue
arab spring
what event placed more towards a more common EU policy and why
9/11 as it gave politicians and public discourse the chance to link terrorism with immigration, (even despite knowledge that the perpetrators were not immigrants or asylum seekers) and thereby enabled to legitimize practise in migration control that were usually used in emergencies.
However, linkages between immigration and terrorism proved difficult to sustain, especially in creating migration legislation within Europe.
what is sovereignty and how has it had an effect on a common policy
Sovereignty (in its most extreme form can be referred to as nationalism) reflects the actors lack of disposition to hand over sovereignty to supranational institutions such as the EU (Niemann, 2008). This in turn means they will be unwillingly to hand over issues such as border control supranational organisations as well
how has the media affected beliefs towards immigration
Much of the media coverage on immigration, particularly newspapers, increasingly links immigration with crime and security issues which scholars claim that European governments have begun to adopt this growing trend of ‘securitizing’ immigration
features of the Amsterdam treat
immigration moved into ‘first pillar’, joint commission initiative, limitied refercne procedure, consultation for EP
features of the lisbon treaty (2009)
all areas of asylum and immigration now subject to the ordinary legislative procedure
