Is Migration Europe’s Death Threat? Migration Policies Negatively Impact European Union’s Legitimacy Cover Image

Is Migration Europe’s Death Threat? Migration Policies Negatively Impact European Union’s Legitimacy
Is Migration Europe’s Death Threat? Migration Policies Negatively Impact European Union’s Legitimacy

Author(s): Vihar Georgiev
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: Legitimacy; Immigration policy; Migration crisis; Institutions; European Union
Summary/Abstract: The increasing trend of migration to the European Union (EU) Member States has given rise to asymmetric political and social effects produced by the presence of immigrants in the EU and the resulting wave of populist, extreme right-wing parties and movements. This paper studies the impact of the current migration crisis on the legitimacy of the EU and its institutions. The EU appears engulfed in a migration governance crisis. The paper argues that current approaches for moderating the migration crisis have undermined the legitimacy of the EU and its political institutions. New space is opening for opportunistic division based on ethnicity and/or nationality in the EU. The paper then proposes a new research agenda for interdisciplinary studies of European migration policies.