The EU facing migrations

Studia Europejskie - Studies in European Affairs, 2020

Nowadays the European Union migration policy towards is one of the most important aspects in ensuring internal security of the EU. At the end of the XXth-beginning of the XXI century, Europe faced a new phenomenon the intensification of migration processes, namely the influx of refugees and migrants-asylum seekers from third countries. Therefore, it led to the creation and development of common migration policy of the European Union. In this regard, it was important to create legislation that could regulate such issues as border security and combating illegal migration, as well as to create a common asylum system. The need to study the legal framework on which the EU policy on migrants and refugees is based, and to study the current state and trends in the migration policy of the member-states of the EU has determined the relevance of this study. The importance of this topic is intensifi ed by the European migration crisis of 2015, which is even described as a humanitarian catastrophe caused by a massive infl ux of refugees from Africa and the Middle East. It showed the main problems in the sphere of migration policy and policy towards refugees: imperfection of the system of delimitation of the EU compe-tencies; a large number of countries with confl icting interests in various spheres; fragmentation of programs in force at the national level. To address the migration crisis, the EU used a multifaceted strategy: improving and creating new migration management institutions, expanding crossregional dialogue with the countries of the Mediterranean region, Africa and the Middle East; continued to reformat the Mediterranean region (region-building). Potential approaches range from an internal search for strategies in which each member state seeks to defend its own interests (sometimes even against European integration processes) to a more farsighted approach in which member states work together to address a wide range of migration issues.

The principle of the European Union's migration policy was characterised by solidarity for a long time, but by the turn of 20 th –21 st centuries, as a consequence of the accelerated and amplified migration pressure the member states have been missing the common devotion, the fair burden and share of the costs of border control. It disparages the concept of solidarity and endangers one of the European Union's fundamental rights, the free movement of persons. Consequently, the EU should elaborate on a common and progressive migration concept, which enhances the solidarity between member states and reduces the effects of migration.

This essay focusses on EU responses to the issue of external migration into its borders, as well as the responses of individual nation states. Since the late 1990s, the EU member states have collaborated to protect their borders from mass immigration. Since the 2010s coordinated EU response to immigration has been challenged, with outliers such as Hungary choosing to enact independent responses to the the current migration challenge.

The EU and its Member States have legal obligation to rescue migrants and potential refugees at the high seas and in Member States’ territory, including territorial waters. And they should start doing so by sharing the burden, in terms of both people and financial redistribution, which is now mostly pressured on Greece and Italy. At the end of the day, Europe, too, must respect human rights and international law.

2018

The following essay aims to address the issue of the migration crisis that has been affecting the European Union (EU) for several years. This is not a new phenomenon at all, but the data shows us how in recent years the phenomenon is gaining more economical, medial and political power. Below you will find an explanation of the meaning of "migration crisis", why it is affecting the European Union and how this region is handling the surge of current refugee flows.

2018

The migration crisis in Europe has split the political elite not only across the EU, but also within individual European states. The discussion on migration policy heated the European agenda to extreme levels in late June 2018. The European Council meeting in Brussels on 28-29 June once again called for further measures to reduce illegal migration and prevent a return to the uncontrolled flows of 2015. It has become obvious that without the joint efforts of Member States in developing detailed and thorough migration policies, the integrity of the European Union might very well be challenged.