№67 The US Labour Immigration Scheme – All about being attractive? EU Perceptions and Stakeholders’ Perspectives Reviewed

Author(s): Katharina Eisele / Language(s): English

Labour immigration schemes that effectively attract qualified immigrant workers are a policy priority for many governments. But what are ‘attractive’ labour immigration schemes and policies? To whom are (or should) such policies (be) attractive? In Europe, the US is often portrayed as one of the most ‘attractive’ countries of immigration – if not the most ‘attractive’. This paper aims to analyse and provide a better understanding of the elements of the US immigration system that are supposedly attractive to foreign workers, by examining key features of the current and prospective US labour immigration rules. The paper finds that ‘attractiveness’ in this policy context is a highly malleable and flexible concept: What might be ‘attractive’ to one key stakeholder might not be to another.

№68 Humanitarian Visas: Option or obligation?

Author(s): Ulla Iben Jensen / Language(s): English

Third-country nationals seeking protection have no EU-wide legal channels at present for entering EU territory and triggering protection mechanisms under the Common European Asylum System. As a result, many embark on hazardous journeys, with concomitant risks and loss of human life. The absence of ‘protection-sensitive’ mechanisms for accessing EU territory, along with EU external and extraterritorial border and migration management and control, undermine Member States' refugeeand human rights obligations. Humanitarian visas may offer a remedy in this regard by enabling third-country nationals to apply in situ for entry to EU territory on humanitarian grounds or becauseof international obligations. This study asks whether the existing Visa Code actually obliges Member States to issue humanitarian visas.

№69 ‘Wrong number?’ The Use and Misuse of Asylum Data in the European Union

Author(s): Minos Mouzourakis / Language(s): English

The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is a policy area particularly evocative of the ‘politics of numbers’. The European Union has at its disposal a wide array of sources providing detailed information about its member states’ asylum systems’ capacities and pressures. This paper discusses thecontent of asylum data and the evolving interaction between its different sources, ranging from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the European Commission’s EUROSTAT and DGHOME, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), FRONTEX, the European Migration Network (EMN) and national databases. However, the way in which such data are often misused, or even omitted,in political debate exerts a strong impact on the soundness of policy decisions in the CEAS.

№74 The End of the Transitional Period for Police and Criminal Justice Measures Adopted before the Lisbon Treaty: Who monitors trust in the European Criminal Justice area?

Author(s): Katharina Eisele,Sergio Carrera,Valsamis Mitsilegas / Language(s): English

This study examines the legal and political implications of the recent end of the transitional period for the measures in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as set out in Protocol 36 to the EU Treaties. This Protocol limits some of the most far-reaching innovations introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon over EU cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs for a period of five years after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (until 1 December 2014), and provides the UK with special ‘opt out/opt-in’ possibilities. The study focuses on the meaning of the transitional period for the wider European Criminal Justice area. The most far-reaching change emerging from the end of this transition will be the expansion of the powers if scrutiny by the European Commission and Luxembourg Court of Justice over Member States’ implementation of EU criminal justice law. The possibility offered by Protocol 36 for the UK to opt out and opt back in to pre-Lisbon Treaty instruments poses serious challenges to a common EU area of justice by further institutionalising ‘over-flexible’ participation incriminal justice instruments.

№75 A Comparative Analysis of Regulations on Involuntary Loss of Nationality in the European Union

Author(s): René de Groot,Maarten Peter Vink / Language(s): English

This paper deals with loss of citizenship of the European Union (EU) due to the loss of nationality of an EU member state. Only the nationals of a member state possess European citizenship; the loss of nationality of a member state thus also implies the loss of European citizenship. Member states are in principle autonomous in nationality matters, which means that their rules on loss of nationality, and loss of EU citizenship, differ considerably. But member states must respect international law and the general principles of European law when dealing with loss of nationality. This report aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic comparative analysis of existing regulations and procedures in EU member states with regard to the involuntary loss of nationality.

№76 Europe’s most wanted? Recalibrating Trust in the European Arrest Warrant System

Author(s): Nicholas Hernanz,Elspeth Guild,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

This paper assesses the uses and misuses in the application of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system in the European Union. It examines the main quantitative results of this extradition system achieved between 2005 and 2011 on the basis of the existing statistical knowledge on its implementation at EU official levels. The EAW has been anchored in a high level of ‘mutual trust’ between the participating states’ criminal justice regimes and authorities.

№76 Mapping Statistics on Loss of Nationality in the EU: A New Online Database

Author(s): Ngo Chun Luk,Maarten Peter Vink / Language(s): English

Statistics can provide a useful perspective when assessing the practical relevance of varying rules and practices on the involuntary loss of nationality across EU Member States. Yet while much progress has been made in the EU in recent years with regard to the collection of comparable and reliable information on the acquisition of nationality, statistics on the loss of nationality are hard to find and, where available, difficult to interpret.In this comparative report, the authors explore the landscape of existing statistical data on loss of nationality in the European Union. The report identifies challenges to the existing methods of data collection and data interpretation and introduces an online statistical database, bringing together all existing statistical data on loss of nationality in the EU.

№77 New Approaches, Alternative Avenues and Means of Access to Asylum Procedures for Persons Seeking International Protection

Author(s): Elspeth Guild,Cathryn Costello,Madeline Garlick,Violeta Moreno-Lax,Minos Mouzourakis / Language(s): English

This study examines the workings of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), in order to assess the need and potential for new approaches to ensure access to protection for people seeking itin the EU, including joint processing and distribution of asylum seekers. Rather than advocating the addition of further complexity and coercion to the CEAS, the study proposes a focus on front-line reception and streamlined refugee status determination, in order to mitigate the asylum challenges facing Member States, and vindicate the rights of asylum seekers and refugees according to the EU acquis and international legal standards. Joint processing could contribute to front-line reception and processing capacity, but is no substitute for proper investment in national systems.

№78 National Security and Secret Evidence in Legislation and before the Courts: Exploring the Challenges

Author(s): Didier Bigo,Sergio Carrera,Nicholas Hernanz,Amandine Scherrer / Language(s): English

This study provides a comparative analysis of the national legal regimes and practices governing the use of intelligence information as evidence in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. It explores notably how national security can be invoked to determine the classification of information and evidence as 'state secrets' in court proceedings and whether such laws and practices are fundamental rights and rule of law-compliant. The study finds that, in the majority of Member States under investigation, the judiciary is significantly hindered in effectively adjudicating justice and guaranteeing the rights of the defence in ‘national security’ cases. The research also illustrates that the very term ‘national security’ is nebulously defined across the Member States analysed, with no national definition meeting legal certainty and “in accordance with the law” standards and a clear risk that the executive and secret services may act arbitrarily.

№79 Whose Mare? Rule of law challenges in the field of European border surveillance in the Mediterranean

Author(s): Leonhard Den Hertog,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

This paper examines key developments in the field of European border surveillance in the Mediterranean. By asking,‘Whose Mare?’, we focus on rule of law challenges stemming from these developments in a post-Lisbon EU. The developments examined are the Italian Navy-led Mare Nostrum operation, the debates over European ‘exit strategies’ for this operation and the ensuing launch of the Frontex Triton joint operation (JO). The recently adopted Regulation on Frontex sea border surveillance operations is also presented as a key development to understand the rule of law challenges. Moreover, the adoption of the European Union Maritime Security Strategy (MSS) and the development of several maritime surveillance systems in the EU highlight that a wide range of actors seeks authority over this field.

№80 The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in the European Union

Author(s): Mark Provera / Language(s): English

This paper offers an academic examination of the legal regimes surrounding the criminalisation of irregular migrants in the EU and of acts of solidarity with irregular migrants, such as assisting irregular migrants to enter or remain in the EU, and other behaviour that is motivated by humanitarian instincts.The research analyses EU law and its relationship with national provisions regarding the criminalisation of irregular migration and of acts of solidarity vis-á-vis irregular migrants. A comparative analysis was made of the laws of the UK, France and Italy, supplemented by ananalysis of the laws of Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. By considering the role of public trust in fostering compliance with the law, the paper explores the impact of criminalisation measures on institutions’ authority to compel individuals to comply with the law (institutional legitimacy).

№84 The EU and its Counter-Terrorism Policies after the Paris Attacks

Author(s): Didier Bigo,Sergio Carrera,Elspeth Guild,Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet,Julien Jeandesboz,Valsamis Mitsilegas,Francesco Ragazzi,Amandine Scherrer / Language(s): English

This paper examines the EU’s counter-terrorism policies responding to the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015. It argues that these events call for a re-think of the current information-sharing and preventive-justice model guiding the EU’s counter-terrorism tools, along with security agencies such as Europol and Eurojust. Priority should be givento independently evaluating ‘what has worked’ and ‘what has not’ when it comes to police and criminal justice cooperation in the Union. Current EU counter-terrorism policies face two challenges: one is related to their efficiency and other concerns their legality. ‘More data’ without the necessary human resources, more effective cross-border operational cooperation and more trust between the law enforcement authorities of EU member states is not an efficient policy response. Large-scale surveillance and preventive justice techniques are also incompatible with the legal and judicial standards developed by the Court of Justice of the EU.

№86 What is happening to the Schengen borders?

Author(s): Elspeth Guild,Evelien Brouwer,Kees Groenendijk,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

What is happening to the Schengen borders? Is Schengen in ‘crisis’? This paper examines the state of play in the Schengen system in light of the developments during 2015. It critically examines the assertion that Schengen is ‘in crisis’ and seeks to set the record straight on what has been happening to the intra-Schengen border-free and common external borders system. The paper argues that Schengen is here to stay and that reports about the reintroduction of internal border checks are exaggerated as they are in full compliance with the EU rule of law model laid down in the Schengen Borders Code and subject to scrutiny by the European Commission. It also examines the legal challenges inherent to police checks within the internal border areas as havingan equivalent effect to border checks as well as the newly adopted proposal for a European Borderand Coast Guard system. The analysis shows that the most far-reaching challenge to the current and future configurations of EU border policies relates to ensuring that they are in full compliance with fundamental human rights obligations to refugees, effective accountability and independent monitoring of the implementation of EU legal standards.

№87 EU-Morocco Cooperation on Readmission, Borders and Protection: A model to follow?

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Jean-Pierre Cassarino,Nora El Qadim,Mehdi Lahlou,Leonhard Den Hertog / Language(s): Albanian,English

Greater cooperation with third countries is one of the EU’s core responses to the refugee crisis. This cooperation is focused on the read mission of individuals irregularly staying in the EU, on border surveillance and control, and on the reception of refugees in third countries. The EU has attempted to co-opt Turkey and African countries into these priorities, using funding and specific mobility channels as incentives. This paper poses the question of what kind of cooperation the EU should pursue with third countries. As the current approaches are not new, we present the lessons from the EU’s long cooperation with Morocco to inform the current debate. We find that, first, the difficult negotiations on an EU Readmission Agreement with Morocco show that more funding or ‘incentives’ cannot guarantee such an agreement, let alone its implementation. Second, we highlight the challenges of the partly EU-funded and Frontex-coordinated cooperation on borders between Spain and Morocco, which hampers the capacity of third countries to respect migrants’ rights and challenges the obligations of EU member states under European and international law. Third, as EU cooperation with Turkey and Africa now aims to ‘stem’ the flow of asylum-seekers, the capacity of third countries to offer reception and protection to asylum-seekers is crucial. We conclude that Morocco has limited capacities in this regard, which raises the question of whether third countries can be assumed to be able to offer such reception and protection.

№88 A European Border and Coast Guard: What’s in a name?

Author(s): Leonhard Den Hertog,Sergio Carrera / Language(s): English

This paper assesses the Commission’s proposal presented in December 2015 to set up a European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG), based on the responses made by the EU border agency Frontex to the ‘refugee crisis’ that began in 2015 and continues unabated. It explores the extent to which this proposed new body will be capable of remedying the EU’s short comings in meeting established border and asylum standards and related institutional needs on the ground and concludes that it is unlikely to do so. The paper argues that the EBCG proposal does not establish a true European Border and Coast Guard. Instead it would revamp Frontex into a Frontex + Agency. The EBCG would expand the current logic of national border guards to be committed to the Frontex Agency ‘pools’ and therefore does not solve the ‘dependency’ of Frontex on member states. More importantly, the EBCG would do too little to ensure that member states comply with EU border and asylum standards, which has constituted the central deficiency throughout 2015 and earlier.

№90 The Cost of Non-Europe in the Area of Organised Crime

Author(s): Sergio Carrera,Elspeth Guild,Lina Vosyliūtė,Amandine Scherrer,Valsamis Mitsilegas,Mirja Gutheil,Quentin Liger,Gareth Harper / Language(s): English

This Research Paper examines the costs of non-Europe in the field of organised crime. It provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the main legal/ethical, socio-political and economic costs and benefits of the EU in policies on organised crime. It offers an in-depth examination of the transformative contribution that the EU has made, in terms of investigation, prosecution and efficiency, to trans-border operational activities and the protection of its citizens’ rights. Finally, it seeks to answer the questions of what are the costs and benefits of European cooperation and what forms of cooperation would bring more European added value.

№95 Money Talks. Mapping the funding for EU external migration policy

Author(s): Leonhard Den Hertog / Language(s): English

This paper examines the role of funding in the EU’s external policies on migration, borders and asylum. Academic analysis has looked extensively into the political and legal resources of the EU in this area,but surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of funding in the governance of this cooperation with third countries. The objective of this paper is first to understand what EU funds are involved and which actors are setting priorities for funding in the field of migration, borders and asylum. This is a highly technical field of EU governance, characterised by complex political and legal dynamics. The funding landscape is fragmented and incoherent, with limited coordination, but this incoherence can be understood in light of the broader political, sociological and institutional struggles that come to the fore in the setting of priorities for funding. This paper argues that a certain degree of incoherence is an inevitable characteristic of EU governance in this field. The bigger issue is the challenge posed to accountability by this EU funding.

ウクライナとNATOの東方拡大

Author(s): Shinkichi Fujimori / Language(s): Japanese / Issue: 47/2000

Ukraine draws attention from the international community because it is positioned between NATO and Russia. In 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were allowed to join NATO. Ukraine welcomed this accession as it would “strengthen security and stability in the European Continent.” It seems that Ukraine has consistently moved closer to West European organizations and Ukraine took advantage of this opportunity to significantly improve its relationship with the West. However, the fact is not as simple as described above. Ukraine once proposed its original security plan and denounced NATO’s PfP. Furthermore, Ukraine’s economy relies heavily on the Russian market and energy supplies. When Ukraine’s economy fails, there will be real danger that Ukraine involuntarily drifts eastward. In this paper, attention will be given to Ukraine’s unique security policy regarding NATO-Russian relations. In the first chapter, economic problem under which Ukraine has existed will be discussed. In the second chapter, attention will be given to Ukraine’s bridge diplomacy. Taking into account Ukraine’s economic constraint and neutral policy, the last chapter will discuss Ukraine’s policy towards NATO’s expansion.

カザフスタンにおける産業組織と企業統治構造の進化と多様性 - 市場経済移行期の政府-企業間関係 -

Author(s): Ichiro Iwasaki / Language(s): Japanese / Issue: 48/2001

A Case Study on the Government-Business Relationship in Transition

スロヴェニアにおける政党政治とポピュリズム －スロヴェニア社会民主党の右派政党化をめぐって－

Author(s): Atsushi Saito / Language(s): Japanese / Issue: 52/2005