The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?

After the end of the Cold War, a decade started within which the idea of European unity gained considerable traction. The Maastricht Treaty transformed the Economic Community into the European Union and the scope of collaboration between its member states widened to include justice and home affairs....

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Main Authors: Jeroen Doomernik, Birgit Glorius
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cogitatio 2022-07-01
Series:Social Inclusion
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/5954
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author Jeroen Doomernik
Birgit Glorius
author_facet Jeroen Doomernik
Birgit Glorius
author_sort Jeroen Doomernik
collection DOAJ
description After the end of the Cold War, a decade started within which the idea of European unity gained considerable traction. The Maastricht Treaty transformed the Economic Community into the European Union and the scope of collaboration between its member states widened to include justice and home affairs. By the end of the decade, it had become clear this was not enough to address the challenges caused by refugee migration. Thus the Amsterdam Treaty aimed at proper joint policy and law‐making in the sphere of migration and asylum. This ought to be done with full respect to the 1951 Refugee Convention. By 2004, when the Union was joined by ten new member states, the essence of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) had been formulated and turned into Regulations and Directives as part of the Union’s body of common law. The system was further fine‐tuned during the next decade, but during the 2015 “refugee crisis” the system collapsed for lack of solidarity and solid agreements on responsibility‐sharing between the member states. Since then, the single goal member states share is that asylum seekers and refugees are best kept from finding a way into Europe—for once they arrive political stress is the unavoidable consequence. Paradoxically, precisely the ideal of a CEAS has introduced practices that deviate from the EU’s norms regarding international protection. This thematic issue reviews some of those issues but also finds examples of harmonization and good practices.
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spelling doaj.art-ea5e999bf075441ca802fd3fe40d8a732022-12-22T00:53:02ZengCogitatioSocial Inclusion2183-28032022-07-011031310.17645/si.v10i3.59542612The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?Jeroen Doomernik0Birgit Glorius1University of Amsterdam, The NetherlandsInstitute for European Studies and History, TU Chemnitz, GermanyAfter the end of the Cold War, a decade started within which the idea of European unity gained considerable traction. The Maastricht Treaty transformed the Economic Community into the European Union and the scope of collaboration between its member states widened to include justice and home affairs. By the end of the decade, it had become clear this was not enough to address the challenges caused by refugee migration. Thus the Amsterdam Treaty aimed at proper joint policy and law‐making in the sphere of migration and asylum. This ought to be done with full respect to the 1951 Refugee Convention. By 2004, when the Union was joined by ten new member states, the essence of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) had been formulated and turned into Regulations and Directives as part of the Union’s body of common law. The system was further fine‐tuned during the next decade, but during the 2015 “refugee crisis” the system collapsed for lack of solidarity and solid agreements on responsibility‐sharing between the member states. Since then, the single goal member states share is that asylum seekers and refugees are best kept from finding a way into Europe—for once they arrive political stress is the unavoidable consequence. Paradoxically, precisely the ideal of a CEAS has introduced practices that deviate from the EU’s norms regarding international protection. This thematic issue reviews some of those issues but also finds examples of harmonization and good practices.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/5954asylumcommon european asylum systempoliticizationreceptionrefugeessolidarity
spellingShingle Jeroen Doomernik
Birgit Glorius
The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
Social Inclusion
asylum
common european asylum system
politicization
reception
refugees
solidarity
title The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
title_full The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
title_fullStr The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
title_full_unstemmed The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
title_short The Future of the Common European Asylum System: Dystopian or Utopian Expectations?
title_sort future of the common european asylum system dystopian or utopian expectations
topic asylum
common european asylum system
politicization
reception
refugees
solidarity
url https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/5954
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