Search Result

Srl

Item

ID: 145551

Buying into myths: free movement of people and immigration / Thielemann, Eiko; Schade, Daniel

Thielemann, Eiko	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

The way in which free movement of people has become the central issue of the British government's renegotiation and referendum campaign on the UK's relationship with the European Union (EU) risks obfuscating at least three central issues: why immigrants are coming to the UK; what impact EU migrants are having on the UK; and what can be done to effectively regulate such inflows. It is, however, not just the eurosceptics and the British government, but also ‘in campaigners’ and other EU member states, who risk perpetuating a number of widely held misconceptions about free movement and immigration for political reasons. Buying into such myths risks undermining attempts to have a more honest and more evidence-based debate about immigration and migrant integration.

Key Words

Immigration ; UK ; Brexit ; Freedom of Movement of People ; Push Factors ; Pull Factors

In Basket

Export

ID: 101140

Refugee protection as a collective action problem: is the EU shirking its responsibilities / Thielemann, Eiko; El-Enany, Nadine

Thielemann, Eiko	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2010.

Summary/Abstract

Refugee protection efforts have been shown to suffer from substantial collective action problems due to the capacity of restrictive policy measures adopted by one region as a means of shifting refugee responsibilities to other regions. Such responsibility-shifting dynamics have been identified between north and south as well as within these regions. European Union (EU) cooperation on asylum and refugee policies has been criticised for facilitating the adoption of restrictive policy measures and the creation of a 'Fortress Europe'. Fears about the hollowing out of refugee standards have been coupled with concerns about the EU's free-riding on the refugee protection efforts of countries outside the EU. This paper shows that overcoming collective action problems between the Member States has indeed been a key motivation for EU cooperation in this area. However, a comparative analysis of EU asylum laws and refugee protection efforts with those of similar developed countries outside the EU leads to the rejection of some of the assumptions and implications of the 'Fortress Europe' thesis. While there is evidence of north/south burden-shirking and substantial room for improvement in the EU's asylum and refugee regimes, comparative legal research and the analysis of available UNHCR data on other OECD countries suggests that there is no evidence to support the claim that European cooperation has led to uniquely restrictive refugee policies and protection outcomes.

Key Words

EU ; Border Security ; Refugee Policy ; JHA

Links

'Full Text'

In Basket

Export

ID: 120831

Understanding European asylum cooperation under the Schengen/Du: a public goods framework / Thielemann, Eiko; Armstrong, Carolyn

Thielemann, Eiko	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2013.

Summary/Abstract

Recent developments in European Union (EU) asylum cooperation raise important questions about the nature of cooperation and the potential problems facing collective action in the realm of EU internal security. The emergence and the subsequent stability of the Schengen/Dublin system is especially puzzling, given the highly inequitable distribution of costs and benefits that this system entails among the participating states and begs the question as to why those states that are likely to face a disproportionate 'burden' under the system would have agreed to it. This article seeks to provide an alternative approach to answering this question by drawing on a public goods framework. We argue that a simple focus on free-riding and exploitation dynamics, as emphasized in the traditional collective action literature, falls short as an explanation and instead demonstrates how more recent theoretical contributions to the public goods literature can offer new insights into the origin and evolution in cooperation in this sensitive policy area.

Key Words

Public goods ; Collective Action ; EU Internal Security ; Asylum Cooperation ; Dublin Regulation ; Schengen Agreement

Links

'Full Text'

In Basket

Export