Civil society and municipal activism around migration in the EU: A multi-scalar alliance-making

Civil society and municipal actors – and the interaction between one another – have become increasingly relevant in EU migration governance. Moving from this understanding, this article explores instances of migration activism in connection with the proactive and contentious role of cities. It does so through the in-depth analysis of the dual EU-wide network From the Sea to the City/International Alliance of Safe Harbours, which gathers numerous civil society initiatives and municipalities and aims to achieve a radical change in EU migration policies. Based on extensive empirical research, my contribution illustrates why the emergence of a multi-scalar alliance between civil society and municipal actors around migration is the result of the interaction between the political agency of these actors and the changing institutional opportunities and constraints at different governance levels. In doing so, it explores different spatial and political dimensions, from cities to transnational arenas, reflecting on their significance in the construction of an EU-wide contentious politics of migration

The EU and the myth of migrant smuggling

Much of the EU’s approach to undocumented migration has focused on the role of smugglers. Federico Alagna argues that the narrative around migrant smuggling often obscures the real purpose of existing policies, as well as the reality of how undocumented migration actually functions

Shifting Governance: Making policies against migrant smuggling across the EU, Italy and Sicily

This research seeks to understand the policy-making dynamics related to migrant smuggling within the European Union, focusing in particular on the Italian case and on the Sicilian sub-case, over the period 2014-2019. The study is based on an operational definition of migrant smuggling (beyond its legal definition) as an area of complexity formed of six different continua charachterising each smuggling event: the ‘smuggling spectrum’. Building upon this, this interpretive case study combines new institutionalist and multi-level governance approaches. This analytical perspective makes it possible to answer the main research question, aimed at understanding how and why agency, influenced by institutional constraints, moves within and across governance levels in the formulation of policies aimed at countering the smuggling of migrants in the EU, Italy and Sicily. Focus is firstly placed on local implementation in Sicily, based on different arenas of agency and on their consequences on policy adoption. Then, the analysis of the national and supranational levels explores policy-making in relation to migrant smuggling, in the light of vertical and horizontal dynamics. This means that shifting up and down processes among the three governance levels are considered, as well as the interaction between different policy areas, different institutions and the impact of non-institutional actors on policy-making. Building upon this analysis and assessing the way in which each actor moves within and across the governance levels, influenced and limited by institutional constraints, this study makes it possible to understand (a) which actors lead the anti-smuggling policy-making process in the EU, Italy and Sicily, and why this is the case; (b) what their approach to smuggling is; (c) what dynamics characterise the relationships between them; (d) how much room there is for processes of information and preference upload; (e) to what extent non-institutional actors contribute to the process of policy adoption

The EU’s new counter-smuggling directive proposal : persisting challenges and recommendations towards implementation

The present brief examines the Proposal for a directive to prevent and counter the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and stay (hereafter the Facilitation Proposal), presented by the European Commission on 28 November 2023, in the context of an international conference to announce the launch of a Global Alliance to counter Migrant Smuggling. The Facilitation Proposal replaced Council Directive 2002/90/EC and Council Framework Decision 2002/946/JHA –the so-called “Facilitators’ Package”–both in place since 2002. While the Facilitation Proposal addresses critical gaps present in the Facilitators’ Package –namely the financial or material benefit component– this brief identifies some potential solutions to persisting challenges. First, it strongly calls for the incorporation of the growing body of empirical evidence concerning the impacts of counter-smuggling, aiming to minimise their adverse effects on vulnerable groups. Second, it calls for clearer, more explicit commitments to eliminate the criminalisation of people on the move who facilitate their own journeys or those of others in order to save their lives. Lastly, it supports the implementation and strengthening of efforts to collect data concerning counter-smuggling activities across EU member states, with the expectation these figures and the methodologies behind their compilation will be fully accessible by the public. A commitment to fairness and transparency on the part of EU agencies involved in enforcing migration controls can in fact improve support for effective counter-smuggling efforts within the Union and its neighbourhoods

Changes in upper airways microbiota in ventilator-associated pneumonia

Background: The role of upper airways microbiota and its association with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) development in mechanically ventilated (MV) patients is unclear. Taking advantage of data collected in a prospective study aimed to assess the composition and over-time variation of upper airway microbiota in patients MV for non-pulmonary reasons, we describe upper airway microbiota characteristics among VAP and NO-VAP patients. Methods: Exploratory analysis of data collected in a prospective observational study on patients intubated for non-pulmonary conditions. Microbiota analysis (trough 16S-rRNA gene profiling) was performed on endotracheal aspirates (at intubation, T0, and after 72 h, T3) of patients with VAP (cases cohort) and a subgroup of NO-VAP patients (control cohort, matched according to total intubation time). Results: Samples from 13 VAP patients and 22 NO-VAP matched controls were analyzed. At intubation (T0), patients with VAP revealed a significantly lower microbial complexity of the microbiota of the upper airways compared to NO-VAP controls (alpha diversity index of 84 ± 37 and 160 ± 102, in VAP and NO_VAP group, respectively, p-value < 0.012). Furthermore, an overall decrease in microbial diversity was observed in both groups at T3 as compared to T0. At T3, a loss of some genera (Prevotella 7, Fusobacterium, Neisseria, Escherichia-Shigella and Haemophilus) was found in VAP patients. In contrast, eight genera belonging to the Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Fusobacteria phyla was predominant in this group. However, it is unclear whether VAP caused dysbiosis or dysbiosis caused VAP. Conclusions: In a small sample size of intubated patients, microbial diversity at intubation was less in patients with VAP compared to patients without VAP

La cuestión fronteriza en Italia: entre el Mediterráneo y Schengen

El objetivo b\ue1sico es el de comprender el estado de la cuesti\uf3n del tema fronterizo y determinar asimismo, teniendo en cuenta la evoluci\uf3n hist\uf3rica de los l\uedmites, las caracter\uedsticas b\ue1sicas del sistema fronterizo italiano haciendo hincapi\ue9 en la presencia de flujos criminales. La primera secci\uf3n analiza la literatura existente sobre el tema fronterizo en Italia, con el fin de entender c\uf3mo y en qu\ue9 t\ue9rminos se ha problematizado el tema fronterizo en los debates de naturaleza acad\ue9mica (y no s\uf3lo) en Italia. El segundo ac\ue1pite se centra en las mutaciones de los l\uedmites italianos a lo largo del tiempo, mientras el tercer apartado, que se basa en esta definici\uf3n territorial, enumera algunas de las caracter\uedsticas centrales del sistema fronterizo italiano (con inclusi\uf3n de los flujos criminales que se manifiestan en el territorio) con el fin de dar una idea lo m\ue1s clara posible de la dimensi\uf3n sist\ue9mica a trav\ue9s de una frecuente interrelaci\uf3n entre las fronteras

Non-conviction Based Confiscation: Why the EU Directive is a Missed Opportunity

Moving from the spread of organized crime within the European Union and the need for a common response by Member States, in this article the author addresses the use of non-conviction based confiscation in the European Union as a tool to fight crime. In particular, after defining and understanding the peculiarities of this provision, its dissemination among national legislations is considered, as well as the attempts at harmonising them at a European level. Following on from this, numerous other issues are taken into consideration and discussed: the legitimacy of non-conviction based confiscation, its usefulness and the problems arising from the legislative divergences within the European Union among others. With this preliminary background, the author finally considers the Directive 2014/42/EU of 3 April 2014 on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime. Not only is the final text analysed, but also the previous legislative steps, including the original proposal of the European Commission, launched in March, 2012, the amendments suggested by the European Parliament and the Compromise Text agreed upon, at the end of the discussions (the \u2018trilogues\u2019) between Parliament, Council and Commission

New horizons or old barriers? : the 2023 EU anti-smuggling directive proposal and human mobility in the Mediterranean

Published online: 05 June 2024In the context of the global push to counter migrant smuggling, in November 2023 the European Commission presented a new anti-smuggling directive proposal, replacing the 2002 Facilitators’ Package. In this article, we critically analyse two key elements of the new directive proposal and reflect on their implications on human mobility in the Central Mediterranean. First, we explore the proposal’s limited scope, which frames the facilitation of movement primarily as a criminal offence performed by migrant smuggling networks alone. Second, we assess the introduction of the financial or material benefit as a constitutive element of the crime of smuggling. We then evaluate these components in light of the recent developments in the criminalization of sea rescue operations and people on the move along the Central Mediterranean route. Finally, we raise concerns over the directive’s potential impact on human mobility within the Euro-Mediterranean region. While it may reduce the likelihood of sea rescue efforts from being labelled as smuggling, the directive will allow for the continued prosecution of people on the move who pilot boats for no financial benefit, in an effort to save their lives and those of others