The Informalisation of the EU's External Action in the Field of Migration and Asylum

345 Pages·2022·4.238 MB·English

by  Eva Kassoti, Narin Idriz

Global Europe: Legal and Policy Issues
Volume 1
of the EU’s External Action
The Informalisation
of the EU’s External
Action in the
Field of Migration
and Asylum
Eva Kassoti
Narin Idriz Editors
Global Europe: Legal and Policy Issues of the
EU’s External Action
Volume 1
Editors-in-Chief
NarinIdriz,T.M.C.AsserInstitute,TheHague,TheNetherlands
EvaKassoti,T.M.C.AsserInstitute,TheHague,TheNetherlands
AdvisoryEditors
ElaineFahey,InstitutefortheStudyofEuropeanLaw,CityUniversityLondon,
CityLawSchool,London,UK
RamsesA.Wessel,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofGroningen,Groningen,
TheNetherlands
KatjaZiegler,UniversityofLeicester,Leicester,UK
The Global Europe Book Series: Legal and Policy Issues of the EU’s External
ActionSeriesisapeer-reviewedbookseriesthatexploresthelegalandpolicyissues
pertainingtotheEU’sglobalactorness.Theeditorsofthebookserieswelcomeedited
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issuesaffectingEuropeancitizensaswellasthosefromotherpartsoftheworld;crit-
icallyreflectingonwhethertheexternalprojectionoftheEUasavirtuousnormative
powercomportswithitspracticeonthegroundaswellasaddressingthedescriptive,
normative and conceptual challenges that complement the ever-expanding global
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Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttps://link.springer.com/bookseries/16683
·
Eva Kassoti Narin Idriz
Editors
The Informalisation
of the EU’s External Action
in the Field of Migration
and Asylum
Editors
EvaKassoti NarinIdriz
T.M.C.AsserInstitute T.M.C.AsserInstitute
TheHague,TheNetherlands TheHague,TheNetherlands
ISSN2666-4828 ISSN2666-4836 (electronic)
GlobalEurope:LegalandPolicyIssuesoftheEU’sExternalAction
ISBN978-94-6265-486-0 ISBN978-94-6265-487-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-487-7
Publishedbyt.m.c. asser press,TheHague,TheNetherlandswww.asserpress.nl
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©T.M.C.ASSERPRESSandtheauthors2022
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Contents
1 TheInformalisationoftheEU’sExternalActionintheField
ofMigrationandAsylum ...................................... 1
EvaKassotiandNarinIdriz
PartI ConstitutionalImplications
2 EU Readmission Deals and Constitutional Allocation
ofPowers:ParallelPathsthatNeedtoCross? .................... 15
CaterinaMolinari
3 The Informalization of EU Return Policy: A Change
ofParadigminMigrationCooperationwithThirdCountries? ..... 37
JuanSantosVaraandLauraPascualMatellán
4 LabourImmigration:Can“Soft”InstrumentsProvideLegal
PathwaysforThirdCountryNationals? ......................... 53
FannyTittel-Mosser
5 The EU-Turkey Statement and the Structure of Legal
Accountability ................................................ 73
BasSchotel
PartII HumanRights
6 The Right to Transparency in the External Dimension
oftheEUMigrationPolicy:PastandFutureSecrets .............. 97
MauroGatti
7 Effective Judicial Protection in the External Dimension
oftheEU’sMigrationandAsylumPolicies? ..................... 117
MelanieFinkandNarinIdriz
v
vi Contents
8 TheInformalisationofMigrationDealsandHumanRights
ofPeopleontheMove:DoesItMatter? ......................... 147
AnnickPijnenburg
9 AdjudicatingAsylumasaTechnical MatterattheCourt
ofJusticeoftheEuropeanUnion:NeglectingHumanRights
whentheCEASAppearstobeinJeopardy? ..................... 169
AyselKüçüksu
10 “Protection” or “Instrumentalization” of Refugees: Will
the European Court of Human Rights Fill in the Gaps
inPushbackCasesAftertheGreece/TurkeyBorderEvents? ...... 193
Ays¸eDicleErgin
PartIII ImpactonThirdCountriesandGlobalImplications
11 One Instrument in Search of an Author: Revisiting
theAuthorshipandLegalNatureoftheEU-TurkeyStatement .... 237
EvaKassotiandAlinaCarrozzini
12 The Internal Effects of the EU-Turkey Deal on Turkey’s
MigrationandAsylumSystem .................................. 259
NevaÖvünçÖztürk
13 TheGlobalPoliticsofRefugeeProtectionandReturn:The
CaseoftheSyrianRefugees .................................... 287
SunaGülferIhlamur-Öner
14 The “Burden” of Being “Safe”—How Do Informal EU
MigrationAgreementsAffectInternationalResponsibility
Sharing? ..................................................... 317
EmanuelaRoman
Chapter 1
The Informalisation of the EU’s External
Action in the Field of Migration
and Asylum
EvaKassotiandNarinIdriz
Contents
1.1 Introduction ............................................................... 2
1.2 AbouttheBook ............................................................ 4
1.2.1 ContentoftheBook .................................................. 5
References ..................................................................... 11
Abstract While the use informal instruments in the external dimension of EU
Migration and Asylum Policy is nothing new, this chapter argues that there was
a significant increase in the adoption of such instruments in the aftermath of the
2015migrationcrisis.Itbeginsbyprovidingabriefoverviewofthistrendwhereby
theEUconcludesinformaldealsandarrangementstocooperatewiththirdcountry
partners to curb and manage migration flows and facilitate the return of irregular
migrants.Subsequently,itintroducesthethreepartsofthebookwhichdealwiththe
implicationsofthistrendontheEUconstitutionalorder(PartI),onthehumanrights
ofindividualsaffectedbythesedeals(PartII),andonthirdcountrypartnersandthe
globalregimeontheprotectionofrefugees(PartIII).Lastbutnotleast,itprovides
anoverviewofeachcontributioncontainedinthesethreeparts.
· ·
Keywords overview migrationdealsandarrangements implicationsof
· ·
informalisation externaldimensionofEUmigrationandasylumpolicy
·
cooperationwiththirdcountrypartners humanrights
B
E.Kassoti( )·N.Idriz
T.M.C.AsserInstitute,TheHague,TheNetherlands
e-mail:[e-mail]
N.Idriz
e-mail:[e-mail]
©T.M.C.ASSERPRESSandtheauthors2022 1
E.KassotiandN.Idriz(eds.),TheInformalisationoftheEU’sExternalAction
intheFieldofMigrationandAsylum,GlobalEurope:LegalandPolicyIssuesoftheEU’s
ExternalAction1,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-487-7_1
2 E.KassotiandN.Idriz
1.1 Introduction
EUMemberStateshavenotbeenabletoagreeonhowtoreformtheinternaldimen-
sion of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in the aftermath of the
so-called“migrationcrisis”of2015.1 Thisinternalstalemateresultedinconcerted
effortsintheexternaldimensionofmigrationandasylumpolicy.Theseeffortsaimed
atcontrollingandmanagingmigrationflowsincooperationwiththirdcountries.Such
cooperationisnothingnew.ItwasalsoenvisagedintheGlobalApproachtoMigra-
tion(2005)aswellastheGlobalApproachtoMobilityandMigration(2011).2What
isrelativelynewintheEU’spost-2015strategyhowever,istheincreasingemphasis
placed on “[e]ffective return, readmission and reintegration policies for those not
qualifyingforprotection”3andtheneedtobroadenthemigrationtoolkit.4Thelatter
istobeachievednotonlybyborrowinginstrumentsfromotherpolicyareas,5butalso
bybeingcreativeandflexibleandgoingbeyondthearsenalofformalinstrumentsto
negotiating“tailor-madepartnerships”.6
The2015crisisprovidednewimpetusforconcludingsuchtailor-madeinformal
arrangementsintheareaofreturn.Atthesametime,arguably,thisshifttoinformality
and employing broader range of instruments was bound to happen. The EU had
alreadyrunoutofpartnerswithwhichithadrealisticchancesofconcludingformal
ReadmissionAgreementsinthewakeofthecrisis.IthadalreadysignedReadmission
AgreementswithitsStabilizationandAssociationpartnersintheWesternBalkans,
theEasternPartnershipcountries(exceptBelaruswhosignedsuchanagreementin
2020) and Turkey before 2015.7 Even though negotiations have been going on for
quite some years, its partners to the south have remained unwilling to sign formal
ReadmissionAgreements.8
1TheCommission’s2016apackageofproposalstoreformtheCEASwasnotadopted.SeeEuropean
Commission2016.ItproposedanewpackageunderthenameNewPactonMigrationinSeptember
2020.SeeEuropeanCommission2020.
2SeerespectivelyEuropeanCommission2005,andEuropeanCommission2011.TheCommis-
sion’s2005CommunicationwasconsideredbytheGeneralAffairsandExternalRelationsCouncil
in December 2005, and the resulting text titled ‘Global approach to migration: Priority actions
focusingonAfricaandtheMediterranean’wasadoptedasanAnnextotheNoteaddressedtothe
EuropeanCouncil.SeeCounciloftheEuropeanUnion2005.
3EuropeanCommission2016b,p.6;Seealso,EuropeanCommission2020,pp.7–9and21–22.
4EuropeanCommission2016b,p.3.
5Ibid.
6EuropeanCommission2020,pp.2,17–18.
7For the full list of countries with which the EU has concluded Readmission Agree-
ments, see: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/irregular-migration-return-pol
icy/return-readmission_enAccessed6July2021.
8Currently,ReadmissionAgreementsarebeingnegotiatedwithMorocco,TunisiaandNigeria.See
EuropeanCommission2021,p.6.NegotiationswithMoroccohavebeengoingonatintervalsfor
morethantwentyyears.Forthepasttrajectoryofthesenegotiations,seeWolff2014,pp.77–81.
1 TheInformalisationoftheEU’sExternalAction… 3
Thestrongestpushtoconcludinginformaldealsandarrangementshowever,was
givenbytheperceivedsuccessoftheEU-TurkeyStatement,alsoknownastheEU-
Turkey deal.9 Few months after its publication on the web-site of the European
Council, the Commission in its proposal for a new Partnership Framework with
third countries emphasised how the Statement showed new ways for international
cooperationtosucceed,andhow“itselementscaninspirecooperationwithotherkey
third countries”.10 Other informal arrangements, all of them informal readmission
agreementsattheircore,followedimmediatelyin2016aswellaslateron.Thefirst
was the Joint Way Forward with Afghanistan (2016),11 followed by the Standard
OperatingProcedureswithBangladesh(2017),12andtheAdmissionProcedureswith
Ethiopia(2018).Thelatterdocumentwasnotpublishedofficially,butitsdraftversion
was leaked,13 leading to a parliamentary question on the matter, as the European
Parliament (EP) had access to the text through this leak.14 The Commission has
acknowledged the existence of these types of arrangements also with Guinea, the
GambiaandtheIvoryCoast.However,thetextsofthesearrangementsarenotpublicly
available.15
Therearealreadyafewcontributionsdealingwiththeissuesraisedbythisturn
toinformality.16Onecouldsafelyexpecttheretobemanymoreasthistrendishere
tostay.InitslatestCouncilConclusionsof24–25June2021,theapproachproposed
bytheCommissiononcooperationwiththirdcountriesinitsNewPactonMigration
and Asylum has been confirmed. Partnerships with countries of origin and transit
aretobeintensifiedwithaviewtoreducingthepressureonEuropeanbordersand
9EuropeanCouncil(2016)PressRelease,EU-TurkeyStatement,18March2016,https://www.con
silium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18/eu-turkey-statement/Accessed6July2021.
10EuropeanCommission2016b,p.3.
11Joint Way Forward on migration issues between Afghanistan and the EU, Kabul, 2 October
2016. For full text, see: https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eu_afghanistan_joint_way_for
ward_on_migration_issues.pdf.ThisinstrumentwasreplacedbyJointDeclarationonMigration
Cooperation between Afghanistan and the EU, Council Doc. 5223/21 ADD 1 of 13 January
2021,seehttps://www.statewatch.org/media/1801/eu-council-joint-declaration-afghanistan-5223-
21-add1.pdf.Accessed6July2021.
12CommissionDecisionontheSignatureoftheEU-BangladeshStandardOperatingProcedures
for the Identification and Return of Persons without an Authorisation to Stay, C(2017) 6137
final,AnnexI.Seehttps://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/3/2017/EN/C-2017-6137-F1-EN-
ANNEX-1-PART-1.PDF.Accessed6July2021.
13ThedraftversionofthedocumentwasleakedbyStatewatch.Seehttps://www.statewatch.org/
media/documents/news/2018/jan/eu-council-regugees-return-ethiopians-15762-17.pdf. Accessed
6July2021.
14SeethequestionraisedbyJudithSargentini(Verts/ALE)on15February2018,https://www.eur
oparl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2018-000957_EN.html.Accessed6July2021.
15EuropeanCommission2021,p.6.Thetransparencyissuesraisedinthiscontextarethesubject
ofthecontributionbyGattiinChap.6ofthisvolume.
16Forexamples,seeCarreraetal2019;andKaya2020.