EU asylum policy must be fairer for those in need and must distribute burdens more equally among member states

The issue of migration into Europe has once again generated headlines, following a number of incidents in which migrants have drowned at sea off the coasts of Italy and Malta in attempts to reach the EU. Considering the state of current EU asylum policy, Georgia Mavrodi reviews the data on EU asylum migration. She argues that the system does not adequately protect those in need and that fundamental reform is required to achieve a fairer and more equitable common EU asylum policy

"Europeanising" national immigration policy: the case of Greece

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die nationale griechische Einwanderungspolitik, die sich, so die These des Autors, immer mehr europäisiert hat. Zunächst wird auf die Auswirkungen der europäischen Migrationspolitik auf die nationale Politik eingegangen, wobei vor allem die Rechte von Einwanderern aus Drittstaaten beleuchtet werden. Der Autor konzentriert sich auf die Auswirkungen im administrativen und rechtlichen Bereich. In einem ersten Schritt wird die griechische Einwanderungspolitik zwischen 1991 und 2005 nachgezeichnet. Im Anschluss daran werden die vielschichtigen Veränderungen betrachtet, die sich durch die EU-Mitgliedschaft ergeben haben. (ICD

Common EU policies on authorised immigration: past, present and future

Since the early 1990s, the metaphor of ‘Fortress Europe’ has dominated the debates on the construction of a common EU immigration policy. While few would disagree with this framework during the initial years of the endeavour, by now it has become over-simplistic and it obscures the full picture of developments in this EU policy area. Since the late 2000s, chiefly on the basis of economic considerations, there has been a clear shift in the dominant approach of the common EU immigration policy towards recognising the need for and value of particular categories of international migrants in Europe. Consequently, the ‘Fortress’ has opened some of its gates to allow and even facilitate entry of non-EU nationals into the EU according to the skills needed in the economies and labour markets of the member states. By contrast, the low-skilled or those who seek international protection still face difficulties in entering. This paper summarises trends in the construction of a common EU policy on authorised immigration and assesses recent developments in EU policy-making activity in this field. Finally, it proposes policy recommendations to be adopted in the immediate future in order to respond to existing issues in the management of immigration in the EU

The other side of "Fortress Europe". Policy transfers in the EU and the liberalising effects of EU membership on Greek immigrant policy

Mavrodi G. The other side of "Fortress Europe". Policy transfers in the EU and the liberalising effects of EU membership on Greek immigrant policy. COMCAD Arbeitspapiere - working papers, 89. Bielefeld: COMCAD - Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development; 2010

"Europeanising" national immigration policy. The case of Greece

Mavrodi G. "Europeanising" national immigration policy. The case of Greece. COMCAD Arbeitspapiere - working papers, 8. Bielefeld: COMCAD - Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development; 2005

Immigration in the EU: Policies and politics in times of crisis 2007-2012

The present study stems from research conducted at EUDO within the framework of the project “Puzzled by Policy”, as part of an international consortium that won a tender within the European Commission’s “Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme” (Objective Theme 3: ICT for Governance). In the report, we provide an overview of immigration policy developments at the EU level and in three Mediterranean member states that are project’s pilot countries: Greece, Italy, and Spain. We lay particular emphasis on changes that have taken place in the last few years, characterized by deep recession and an unfavourable climate for immigrants and EU citizens alike. However, we do not exhaust our attention on adopted legislation. Rather, we aim at a comprehensive presentation of the landscape of immigration policies and politics in the EU by including the positions and immigration policy proposals of important policy stakeholders in the countries concerned as well as at the EU level.This study was realised with the help of funding for the project “Puzzled by Policy” by the European Commission, Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, Grant Agreement number 256261

Greek Trade Unions and Employers' Associations in Immigration Policy-making within the Context of EU Membership

Most often than not, the impact of EU membership on Greek policies and politics is simply treated as ¿self-evident¿ or it is sought in the formal adoption of legal norms and institutions. What about the actors? How do they perceive, understand, and even instrumentalise the EU ¿from within¿ the policy-making processes? The policy issues concerning foreign immigrants in Greece can provide a magnifying lens to observe different actors at work and their positions and strategies as regards to the role of the EU. In this lecture, the focus will not be on the ¿usual suspects¿ (such as the Greek political parties or the government) but on smaller and under-researched - yet important- players: the public administration, non-governmental organisations, workers' and employers' associations, and the Greek Ombudsman

The Europeanisation of national immigration policies? : liberalising effects of EU membership in a new immigration country

Defense date: 28 May 2010Examining Board: Andrew Geddes (University of Sheffield), Donatella Della Porta (EUI) (Supervisor), Virginie Guiraudon (CNRS) (Co-supervisor), Anna Triandafyllidou (Democritus University of Thrace)This study examines the impact of European integration in immigration issues on Greek immigration policy. Contrary to widely held claims that immigration policies in Europe become more and more restrictive - the well-known debate on 'Fortress Europe' - Greek legislation on entry, residence and rights of third-country nationals has undergone gradual liberalising developments. This paradox drove my inquiry into the factors, institutions and processes that may explain liberalising immigration policy change for a period of fifteen years (1990 - 2005). Greece, similarly to the rest of southern European 'new' immigration countries, is often charged with the implicit or explicit assumption that its recent turn into a host country for immigrants makes her receptive to the restrictive influence of EU policies on immigration. Is that so? What impact, if any, has cooperation on immigration issues at the EU level had on Greek immigration policy developments and why? What form has it taken, under what conditions, and what mechanisms have been at work? In search for answers, my research combines a qualitative single-country case-study with the comparative method. The lens of analysis is put on Greek immigration policy making and change across domestic institutions and policy areas. Rules and regulations on entry and residence of third-country nationals for employment purposes and family reunification are process-traced and compared across the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. At a second stage the same policy area is compared to other fellow areas, namely student immigration, ethnic immigration, and citizenship. The study draws on a variety of primary sources, including parliamentary debates, administrative documents, Court rulings and EU documentation. Policy developments taking place in other EU member-states are also kept in sight on the basis of the available secondary literature. Greek immigration policy has relied on institutional and policy continuities to a greater extent than one might imagine when thinking of 'new' immigration countries. The latter are far from a 'tabula rasa' in migration issues and their previous rules, regulations, and domestic institutional legacies should be taken into consideration in order to understand their immigration policies at present. A series of Greek restrictive regulations and practices concerning immigration controls had been rooted before 'Fortress Europe' was developed. At the same time, however, Greece lacked a regulatory framework for immigrant settlement - including attention at immigrant integration. This provided for incompatibilities with the developing set of common EU norms on the rights of legally resident third-country nationals, which caused significant EU pressures for national policy change. The on-going process of integration in immigration issues at the EU level affected the timing and the direction of domestic policy-making but the extent and degree of this effect across policy areas and domestic institutions have been differential. Greek participation in the common EU immigration policy alone cannot account for all European effects on national immigration policy. Nevertheless, it has been the most powerful institutional framework to induce or facilitate liberalising changes in the Greek immigration legislation in the last two decades. These findings support a reconsideration of the nature, policy dynamics and limitations of 'Fortress Europe', and they invite for further research in the rest of the EU member states