Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy in Europe

In What Happened to Equality? The Construction of the Right to Equal Treatment of Third-Country Nationals in European Union Law on Labour Migration, Friðriksdóttir examines five European Union Directives on labour migration that were adopted based on a sectoral approach to labour migration management. An account of the negotiations between the Commission, the Council and the Parliament on the five Directives reveals how access to territory and the labour market, the right to equal treatment and the right to family reunification were constructed for the different groups of labour migrants and how differentiation between groups of migrants, and discrimination against migrants compared with nationals which contravenes international and European human rights frameworks and international labour law, is institutionalized.

This book investigates how liberalization of service provision related to movement of natural persons takes shape within EU and WTO law. It provides an overview and analysis of the implementation of the identified obligations derived from EU law and the GATS in the Dutch legal order and that of the United Kingdom. A thorough investigation of the chosen strategies in each legal order is provided, including a comparison of the differences and similarities between these strategies. The resulting overview leads to insight into the tension that exists between the international obligations related to service mobility of the two investigated states on the one hand, and their migration law and access to the labour market legislation on the other.

This research questions the seemingly ossified premise that states have an absolute discretion to control international migration. Applying Max Weber’s theories of legitimacy, it determines that while states have certain traditionally legitimate functions, migration control, as distinct from the determination of citizenship, is not one such function. Measures of migration control must thus be justified on a rational-legal basis, that is, on a minimal evidential basis.

Acknowledging the many obstacles states face in carrying out this legitimising exercise, it is suggested that a supranational approach at the regional level is the most sustainable long-term model, with an ultimate aim of achieving inter-regional cooperation on migration management on the basis of equality between regions.

This book, edited by Vincent Chetail, Philippe De Bruycker and Francesco Maiani, is aimed at analysing the recent changes of the Common European Asylum System, the progress achieved and the remaining flaws. The overall objective and key added value of this volume are to provide a comprehensive and critical account of the recast instruments governing asylum law and policy in the European Union.

This book is the outcome of the 7th Congress of the Academic Network for Legal Studies on Immigration and Asylum in Europe held in Brussels in 2014. Contributors are: Hemme Battjes, Céline Bauloz, Ulrike Brandl, Vincent Chetail, Cathryn Costello, Philippe De Bruycker, Madeline Garlick, Elspeth Guild, Emily Hancox, Lyra Jakuleviciene, Francesco Maiani, Barbara Mikołajczyk, Géraldine Ruiz, Evangelia (Lilian) Tsourdi, Patricia Van De Peer and Jens Vedsted-Hansen.

In Contingent citizenship, Sandra Mantu examines the changing rules of citizenship deprivation in the UK, France and Germany from the perspective of international and European legal standards. In practice, two grounds upon which loss of citizenship takes place stand out: fraud in the context of fraudulent acquisition of nationality and terrorism in the context of national security. Newly naturalised citizens and citizens of immigrant origin are mainly targeted by these measures. The resurrection of the importance attached to loyalty as the citizen’s main duty towards his/her state shows that the rules on loss of citizenship are capable of expressing ideals of membership and identity, while the citizenship status of certain citizens remains contingent upon meeting these ideals.

The central theoretical question of The Privatisation of Immigration Control through Carrier Sanctions concerns the social working of legal rules. Sophie Scholten examines how states, private companies (carriers) and people (passengers) have become interconnected through carrier sanctions legislation.
Scholten describes the legal framework in the Netherlands and the UK and international and European legislative rules developed on the subject. The author ties in with debates on privatisation of control in general and of immigration control in particular. As such the author provides a much needed new look at a field which as not attracted detailed academic attention. Scholten opens up fascinating questions about the relationship of the public and private sectors in the complex and politically sensitive area of immigration.

What do international and EU law require from the national asylum judge with regard to the intensity of judicial scrutiny to be applied and evidentiary issues? To answer that question, an analysis is made of the provisions on national judicial proceedings contained in the Refugee Convention (RC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN Convention against Torture (CAT), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In addition, the assessment as performed by the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture and the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning the expulsion of asylum seekers is analysed.

Since 1999, the EU has adopted legislation harmonizing many areas of immigration law, in particular rules on borders, visas, legal migration, and irregular migration. The much-enlarged and fully updated second edition of this book contains the text of and detailed commentary upon every significant measure in this field proposed or adopted up until 1 September 2011. It includes commentary on the EU visa code, the Schengen Borders Code, the Frontex Regulation, the Returns Directive, the Directives on family reunion, long-term residents and single permits for migrant workers, and many more besides.
This is the essential guide for any lawyers, academics, civil servants, NGOs and students interested in this area of law.

The authors of each commentary are academic and practitioner experts in the field of EU immigration law based in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Also available as a set of 3 volumes see isbn 9789004222304

Human Rights, State Sovereignty and Medical Ethics: Examining Struggles Around Coercive Sterilisation of Romani Women examines the mobilized use by people and groups of the international human rights law framework to move legal, policy and ultimately social change at national and local level. One particular case study is examined in detail: efforts by Romani women in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to secure legal remedy for coercive sterilization. International legal aspects of these cases are examined in detail. The book concludes by endeavouring to answer questions concerning the nature of international law and the evolution of the post-World War II international human rights framework, the structure of national sovereignty, and the potential impact of both on human autonomy.

In recent years the EU has been active in developing a common European immigration policy in cooperation with third countries and in building an “external dimension” of such an EU policy. The linkages between the EU’s external relations and migration policies have influenced the distinct legal positions of third-country nationals (non-EU nationals). This book critically discusses whether the EU’s objective of creating a common EU migration policy can be achieved against the backdrop of a highly fragmented EU framework for migration law and policy, and it argues that it is difficult to speak of one single, unitary group of third-country nationals forming the counterpart to EU citizens.

This book maps out, from a variety of theoretical standpoints, the challenges generated by European integration and EU citizenship for community membership, belonging and polity-making beyond the state. It does so by focusing on three main issues of relevance for how EU citizenship has developed and its capacity to challenge state sovereignty and authority as the main loci of creating and delivering rights and protection. First, it looks at the relationship between citizenship of the Union and European identity and assesses how immigration and access to nationality in the Member States impact on the development of a common European identity. Secondly, it discusses how the idea of solidarity interacts with the boundaries of EU citizenship as constructed by the entitlement and capacity of mobile citizens to enjoy equality and social rights as EU citizens. Thirdly, the book engages with issues of EU citizenship and equality as the building blocks of the EU project. By engaging with these themes, this volume provides a topical and comprehensive account of the present and future development of Union citizenship and studies the collisions between the realisation of its constructive potential and Member State autonomy.

In EU Citizenship, Nationality and Migrant Status: An Ongoing Challenge, Kristīne Krūma offers an account of the regulation of nationality at international, EU and national (Latvian) levels. Growing global migration and multiple individual loyalties lead to a fusion of national identities traditionally preserved by the EU Member States.
Dismantling national borders and granting directly effective rights to EU citizens broadens our understanding about belonging only to the limited territory of a single State. The primary focus is the status of the EU citizenship, which has become a meaningful status capable of satisfying claims by citizens. The Latvian example shows that migrant status cannot be ignored because of the crucial role of migrants in the future construct of the EU.

In the past decade, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have formalised or introduced language and knowledge of society tests for immigrants applying for citizenship. The aim of this book is to assess the explicit and hidden goals these citizenship tests are meant to achieve, as well as to analyse their intended and unintended effects. The book answers the questions of why the countries under consideration introduced citizenship tests and what effects these tests have produced. The latter question has been answered on the basis of an analysis of relevant statistics and an analysis of interviews with immigrants and stakeholders. Furthermore, the content of the tests presented to (possible) future citizens of Germany, the Netherlands and the UK has been thoroughly analysed.

Democratic states guarantee free movement within their territory to all citizens, as a core right of citizenship. Similarly, the European Union guarantees EU citizens and members of their families the right to live and the right to work anywhere within EU territory. Such rights reflect the project of equality and undifferentiated individual rights for all who have the status of citizen, but they are not uncontested. Despite citizenship's promise of equality, barriers, incentives, and disincentives to free movement make some citizens more equal than others. This book challenges the normal way of thinking about freedom of movement by identifying the tensions between the formal ideals that governments, laws, and constitutions expound and actual practices, which fall short.

"Individual states and the European Union have either created or permitted the creation of direct and indirect barriers to mobility that undermine the promise of freedom of movement. The volume identifies these barriers, explains why they have arisen, discusses why they are difficult to remove, and explores their consequences." -- Joseph Carens, University of Toronto.

Since 1999, the EU has adopted legislation harmonizing many areas of immigration law, in particular rules on borders, visas, legal migration, and irregular migration.
The much-enlarged and fully updated second edition of this book contains the text of and detailed commentary upon every significant measure in this field proposed or adopted up until 1 September 2011. It includes commentary on the EU visa code, the Schengen Borders Code, the Frontex Regulation, the Returns Directive, the Directives on family reunion, long-term residents and single permits for migrant workers, and many more besides.
This is the essential guide for any lawyers, academics, civil servants, NGOs and students interested in this area of law.

The authors of each commentary are academic and practitioner experts in the field of EU immigration law based in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Also available as a set of 3 volumes see isbn 9789004222304

Since 1999, the EU has adopted legislation harmonizing many areas of immigration law, in particular rules on borders, visas, legal migration, and irregular migration.
The much-enlarged and fully updated second edition of this book contains the text of and detailed commentary upon every significant measure in this field proposed or adopted up until 1 September 2011. It includes commentary on the EU visa code, the Schengen Borders Code, the Frontex Regulation, the Returns Directive, the Directives on family reunion, long-term residents and single permits for migrant workers, and many more besides.
This is the essential guide for any lawyers, academics, civil servants, NGOs and students interested in this area of law.

The authors of each commentary are academic and practitioner experts in the field of EU immigration law based in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Also available as a set of 3 volumes see isbn 9789004222304

Evidentiary assessment holds a central position in all forms of judicial decision-making. Also the asylum procedure is dependent on solutions made in theory and practice regarding evidentiary issues. This book explores the particular framework of evidentiary assessment in selected European appellate asylum procedures and discusses the relationship between these procedures, on the one hand, and between these procedures and other legal systems, including the EU legal order, on the other. Conclusions are made regarding the similarities and differences between the German, English and Finnish asylum procedures and the position and impact of European legal norms on the national procedures. The book further discusses possibilities for harmonization and the future work towards a Common European Asylum System.

The book examines the phenomenon of dual nationality in the European Union, particularly against the background of the status of European citizenship – a status that is linked to the nationality of each EU Member State. While the first part sets out the approach towards (dual) nationality in Public and Private International Law as well as in EU Law, the second part consists of an overview of the dual nationality regimes in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The book shows that the autonomy of Member States in the field of nationality law is becoming increasingly problematic for the EU, and the author takes the position that there is arguably a need for the (minimum) harmonization of European nationality laws.

More than a decade has passed since the appearance of the first issue of the European Journal of Migration and Law, which was established to examine the intertwining of issues of law and migration in the EU. This volume has been compiled to celebrate that anniversary. The journal itself is the basis for the book: authors who have written the most significant contributions for the journal on the relevant issues to the Area of Freedom Security and Justice (AFSJ) have revised and updated their articles in light of current developments. These are supplemented with new chapters on issues which have turned out to be particularly important to the development of the field. The success of the journal has demonstrated the need for informed, independent academic research on the changing nature of immigration and asylum in Europe, and this volume too seeks to meet that need. It offers a unqiue and lively collection of essays covering the field of EU immigration and asylum law from a variety of perspectives.

This book studies the implications for third-country nationals of the adoption of the Long-term Residence Directive. This Directive has the potential to become a subsidiary form of EU citizenship which escapes direct control by Member States. Hence, this Directive brings the prospect of transforming Member States’ control over the relationship between territory and population. In order to arrive at this conclusion, the book looks at its content and at the way in which Member States have implemented some of its most controversial articles. It then explores how the Court of Justice could interpret those articles, taking into account its previous jurisprudence on Turkish workers and EU citizens and calling into question the compliance of several national provisions with EU law.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of EU legislation in the area of legal migration. Five Directives on family reunification, long-term residence, students, researchers and highly qualified migrants are critically assessed. Moreover, the implementation of the Directives in three Member States (Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) and national legislation in two Member States with an opt-out from EU migration law (the UK and Netherlands) are assessed. This includes national rules on the integration of third-country nationals and access to citizenship. The book calls into question the compliance of several European and national provisions with EU principles of law and international human rights.

A central element of contemporary border regimes is their application to migrants before they reach a state's territory. The main forms of this extraterritorial immigration control are visa requirements, pre-embarkation immigration controls and the interception of irregular migrants at sea. This work analyses the complex relationship of the law to these practices, as legal guarantees are potentially avoided, while the legality of control is often uncertain. It examines the international law framework, including the law of the sea and the extraterritorial application of principles of non-refoulement contained in the Refugee Convention and in international human rights law. The work also includes detailed case-studies of the legal challenges posed by extraterritorial immigration controls in Europe, Australia and the United States.

Language and integration tests as a condition for naturalisation and various types of legal residence permits are topical issues in several European Member States. The introduction of the tests reflects a change in ideas on the relationship between legal status and integration.
Since the introduction of the tests is a rather recent development, little is known of the effects of the formalised testing schemes. Whether the tests have in fact contributed to the integration of immigrants in the host society or whether they function as a mechanism for selection and exclusion is unknown.
In this book, experts from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom analyse the policies concerning the integration of newcomers and/or future citizens in their countries.

Practices of immigration detention are largely resistant to conventional forms of legal correction because contemporary liberal democracies justify these practices with an appeal to their territorial sovereignty, a concept that thwarts the very communicability of individual interests in modern constitutionalism. However, this book argues that human rights in the specific context of immigration detention can function as “destabilisation rights”, subjecting to full legal scrutiny those claims that the national state presents as predominantly based on its territorial sovereignty. The resulting destabilisation of territorial sovereignty in both domestic and international constitutionalism will have ramifications for a number of instruments of migration control, the perceived necessity and legitimacy of which is almost exclusively based on the self-referential notion of territorial sovereignty.

The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) is a unique comparative study on indicators of the legal integration of third-country nationals. Though comparing countries on the basis of various indicator types is common in the private sector and increasingly used in policy areas like development, good governance and equality, the exercise remains relatively new in justice and home affairs. The book lays out the instruments used to construct the MIPEX and then situates the study within current debates on integration indicators and policy evaluation. Each chapter considers what the study’s key findings add to our understanding of the state of integration policy development across Europe and of recent legal and policy trends on anti-discrimination, naturalisation, labour market access, and political participation.

This book studies the normative intersection between integration, immigration and nationality in the European Union (EU). It examines the relationship between integration and the legal frameworks of admission, stay and access to nationality by third country nationals at national and European levels. Integration is being subject to multifaceted processes transforming its traditional policy and legal settings, as well as its classical theoretical premises and approaches. The Europeanisation of immigration policy has provoked the emergence of distinctive European approaches on integration. The legal elements of integration are being developed through two parallel settings: the EU Framework on Integration and European immigration law. These venues constitute two of the main pillars upon which the common EU immigration policy is being constructed, and their nexus raises several elements in need of reflection and study. This book examines the processes through which integration becomes a norm in nationality and immigration law and policy at the national and EU levels, and the implications of these processes for the legal status of third country nationals and the overall coherency of the common EU immigration policy.

Offering the first comprehensive analysis of readmission agreements, this book examines the intersection of immigration and human rights law and the complex interplay between evolving international, regional and national norms. Expanding the current academic and policy discourse on readmission agreements through detailed consideration of the negotiation processes carried out by the European Community, it renders a nuanced review of the underlying strategic objectives and regional effects of these treaties. The book makes a robust challenge to prevailing perspectives in legal scholarship and policy on readmission and refugee protection. The self-contained focus on EC readmission agreements throws light on broader questions of EU migration policy and reveals a detailed and insightful picture of a specific field of EU policy and action.

Since its launch in 1995, the majority of personal data held in the Schengen Information System (SIS) concerns third-country nationals to be refused entry to the Schengen territory. This study reveals why the use of the SIS (and the second generation SIS or SIS II) entails a risk to the protection of human rights such as the right to privacy and the right to data protection, but also the freedom of movement of persons and the principle of non-discrimination. This study describes the implementation of the SIS in respectively France, Germany, and the Netherlands and the available legal remedies in both data protection and immigration law. On the basis of three general principles of European law, minimum standards are developed for effective remedies for individuals registered in the SIS, but also other databases such as Eurodac or the Visa Information System.

Citizenship of the Union and Freedom of Movement of Persons, sets out to analyse in detail the various provisions of Community law which confer upon individuals the right to move about, reside and work in the Member States. It also examines the procedural safeguards which set those fundamental rights apart from any deriving from other international bodies or organisations and point up the originality of the Community system. Citizenship of the Union entails freedom of movement under the current Treaties and also under the Treaty of Lisbon, in which the unified treatment of the rules, by contrast with the existing pillars of Community and European Union law, might be expected to confer new impetus on the realisation of the area of freedom, security and justice. If there is truly to be such an area, there must be unified, not merely coordinated action. Judicial cooperation must be tightened in favour of the Union and, more importantly, individuals, be they Community citizens or indeed nationals of third countries, given the increasing trend towards a kind of integration which focuses less on formal data such as nationality and more on factors such as residence, employment and social integration. The book pays particular attention to this last aspect and its political and legal implications. The "communitarisation" of immigration policy (the new Title IV of the EC Treaty mentioned above) and the perspectives opened up by the enlargement to 27 Member States (and more) and by the Treaty of Lisbon, provide the framework for the treatment given in the present work.

The large-scale establishment of ethnic minorities and diasporic communities in Europe has gained the attention of social science scholars for a number of decades now. However, legal interest in this field has remained relatively underdeveloped, and few scholars have addressed emerging legal issues to any significant degree. This collection of contributions by leading writers in the field of ethnic migration and diaspora studies therefore provides some important interdisciplinary perspectives of how ethnic/diasporic minorities in British and European contexts interact with the official legal system. This volume makes a significant contribution in assessing the role of law in current debates on the integration of ethnic and religious minorities of migrant origin in the EU. The chapters derive from papers first delivered at a lecture series on ‘Cultural Diversity and Law’ at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The contributors’ disciplinary interests range across law, anthropology, sociology, geography and political theory, and each one addresses the issues within his or her field of study by adopting approaches that place law within its wider social and political context. The topics covered range from a number of ‘public’ and ‘private’ law issues as well as the more conceptual realms of jurisprudence. They include marriage laws, approaches to dispute resolution, the role of courts and juries in the criminal justice system, drugs policies and the criminalisation of minorities, free speech and blasphemy, planning laws and the construction of religious buildings, composition of the judiciary, the normative foundations of cultural diversity in law, and integration and law. The compilation should therefore attract an interest beyond its core readership in law, making legal issues accessible to a whole range of students and policy makers within the social sciences.

This volume traces the developments in the laws and practices of the European Union and five of its Member States (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy) at two points in time: first at the time of the Gulf War following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 2000; secondly, following the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001. The focus is on the legal status of immigrants and asylum seekers and how that legal status is being modified on grounds of security-related measures adopted over a period of about ten years. Particularly, the question is whether and how far situations have come into existence, which could be considered to be in conflict with fundamental principles of human rights.

Since entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999, the EU has considered, and in many cases adopted, many proposals for legislation or measures implementing legislation in the area of immigration and asylum law. These measures run the gamut from highly technical operational matters to broad measures covering basic aspects of immigration and asylum law. Between them, the proposed or adopted measures cover virtually every possible issue in relation to immigration or asylum.
This book contains the text of and commentary upon a large number of these measures proposed or adopted up until 1 January 2006, including all of the most important ones. It also includes the text of the key measures concerning asylum, legal migration and irregular migration. A full list of the measures with references to their legislative history is provided. The authors of each commentary are experts in the field of EU immigration and asylum law, and the areas covered include visa and border controls, asylum, legal migration and integration, and irregular migration.

The main objective of this book is to present the on-going process of European integration via a comprehensive analysis of the institutional dynamics of, and politics linked with, the emerging migration law and policy of the European Union. More specifically, it presents the historical evolution, the main institutional legislative and policy steps, the position of, and interactions among, the different actors, and the factors impeding the formation of a common policy at EU level. On this basis a critical analysis is provided of the main institutional problems, the current policy framework, the overarching rationale as well as of the content and quality of the nascent EU migration law.
The book is divided into three parts. The first two parts provide a comprehensive study of the institutional framework and the substantive EC/EU law respectively. The third and final part provides a more general analysis of the policy-making process. Since the major achievements in the field of migration are recent, the book focuses to a great extent on the post-Amsterdam era. However, for reasons of coherence and in order to better evaluate recent developments, a concise overview of the origins of this policy is provided. Moreover, special emphasis is placed on the Schengen acquis, since its mark on European affairs has been and remains pronounced. Overall the attempt has been to provide an account, which is up to date with extensive historical references and combines both an academic and practical perspective to the legal and political issues involved. The approach based on the above elements will contribute to a new understanding of the main aspects of EU migration law and its policy ramifications and will be of use to both academics and practitioners alike.

This is a study of the legal framework on criminal measures on trafficking and/or smuggling and facilitating illegal entry in six Member States: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, and the European Union. This issue is at the nexus of migration and criminal law. The system of criminal law in the Member States is a central part of the balance of the powers of the authorities and the rights of the citizen. The way in which civil liberties of the individual are weighed in comparison with public protection duties by the authorities is in essence a constitutional issue. The treatment of foreigners, in particular as regards their entry onto the territory and residence is not part of the constitutional settlements, but a field governed by state discretion and exceptionalism. The rules and administrative measures regarding entry, residence and expulsion of foreigners is not subject to the same civil liberties guarantees of due process as apply in criminal law.
This comparative study examines how, in each Member State, the insertion of immigration into criminal law takes place. Do the rules of criminal law in respect of due process take precedence over the lower evidential and procedural requirements which are applied in the field of immigration? How does the criminal justice system deal with this new field where central constitutional issues are not present? There are two levels on which the insertion of immigration into criminal law takes place – the legal and the social. This book deals with both. On the one hand it looks at the laws and the court decisions on criminal trials in respect of immigrants for immigration related offences, on the other hand it looks at how the society (political actors, media, interest groups etc) discuss and develop this issue.
This book is designed for policymakers, academics, students and activists concerned about the European Union.

Community asylum law is becoming ever more essential to asylum law in Europe. But many intricate questions about this new body of law remain to be resolved. Do the Community rules weaken or improve the position of asylum seekers? Would a future Community asylum law have to observe international norms? What role should the Court of Justice play in asylum matters? And does the communautarisation of asylum law affect the possibilities of asylum seekers to approach domestic courts, or the European Court of Human Rights? These and other questions are addressed in this book. It offers, besides an in-depth study of the relation between European and international asylum law, a practical manual for European asylum law. It discusses the content and meaning of all Community regulations and directives on asylum, as well as their possible use (and reliability) in domestic proceedings.