From mandatory to voluntary. Impact of V4 on the EU relocation scheme

Emotions in the European Union's decision-making: the reform of the Dublin System in the context of the refugee crisis

“…Germany is the larger member state and in this specific case, it was one of the countries that supported the relocation of refugees. In sharp contrast, the VG created a unified front against obligatory relocation and was for this dubbed the coalition of the unwilling (Duszczyk, Podgórska, and Pszczółkowska 2020).…”

“…The only actor that significantly changed its framing was the European Council and Council. The evolution of the position of EU leaders is visible in the European Council statements (Duszczyk, Podgórska, and Pszczółkowska 2020). While in 2015 European leaders seemed to be concerned with saving lives, the main focus after 2016 was about exporting the problem.…”

“…The position displayed by the councils evolved from a position that was open to a relocation mechanism to a position that was contrary to one. Even the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk sent a message to the leaders before the summit in December 2017 suggesting that mandatory quotas should not be used (Duszczyk, Podgórska, and Pszczółkowska 2020). The position of the councils thus was increasingly aligned with the position of right-wing populist groups.…”

“…In the new emotional environment, the conditions were thus much more favorable for the cultivation of fear and for the success of fearmongering strategies and dehumanization. In the context of Brexit, a number of EU leaders such as Angela Merkel, but also Jean-Claude Juncker, did not want to exacerbate east-west divisions (Duszczyk, Podgórska, and Pszczółkowska 2020). EU leaders therefore decided to 'solve' the crisis outside of the formal EU procedures by signing the so-called EU-Turkey deal; this represented a significant step toward the institutionalization of fear in this policy area.…”

Poza programem czy zgodnie z programem? Refleksje po pięciu latach obowiązywania „Europejskiego programu w zakresie migracji”

“…Polski rząd, wraz z rządami pozostałych państw grupy wyszehradzkiej, postulował już w 2016 r. tzw. "elastyczne" podejście do solidarności w ramach UE, dążąc w ten sposób do uniknięcia przyjmowania uchodźców z południowych krajów UE i wskazując jednocześnie na zaangażowanie w odpowiedź na presję migracyjną na wschodniej granicy zewnętrznej (Duszczyk et al 2020;Klaus 2017;Szulecka 2019: 15-17). Zapowiedź elastycznej solidarności w "nowym pakcie o migracji i azylu" wydaje się zatem powodem do zadowolenia dla wszystkich tych państw, które się sprzeciwiały udziałowi w unijnym programie relokacji uchodźców.…”