Refugee Crisis and the European Union: Do the Failed Migration and Asylum Policies Indicate a Political and Structural Crisis of European Integration?

Abstract

This paper deals with the refugee crisis and its impact on the European Union. The absence of a common immigration policy, even the existence of diametrically opposed attitudes and different practices of individual member states in the regulation of the refugee wave, caused a complete failure of European Union migration and asylum policies. It has, on the one hand, deepened the refugee crisis and, on the other hand, pointed to the structural and political crisis of the European Union, since they have brought into question the fundamental values of European integration, in particular human rights, unity, cooperation, solidarity, freedom and democracy. Similarly, the conflict of supranational and national interests and policies very pronouncedly came to light. The refugee crisis has also become a serious test for not only migration and asylum policies, which have proved unsuccessful, but has brought to the fore the structural and political weaknesses of European integration. Consequently, they have raised the issue of redefining the modalities of cooperation and institutional structure, especially relations of the European Commission and nation states, as well as relations among member states, particularly big and small ones.

Democracy and the Challenge of Climate Change

“…The arrival of 1.8 million migrants into the EU in 2015 motivated authoritarian right-wing populist parties, contributed to political polarization, and gave rise to a political debate about identity, religion and values. Some commentators claim that this led to the weakening of European democracy and EU collaboration (Maldini and Takahashi 2017;Murray and Longo 2018). In the EU, India and the USA, proposals for tightening border controls have been issues on the political agenda.…”

Dilemmas of Political Parallelism: Polish Weekly Opinion Magazines in the Face of the Migration Crisis of 2015

“…The most controversial decision in this matter, which triggered objections and bitterness in numerous EU states, was the decision of German Chancellor Angela Merkel of September 6, 2015, on suspension of certain regulations regarding border control -the so-called Dublin III regulation� Interestingly enough, this decision, supposedly taken in the name of Christian values as it has been emphasised by Merkel herself, those values which constitute the moral and ideological foundation of existence of this organisation in order to prevent an even greater humanitarian disaster and to save human lives, this very decision Polish Political Science Studies vol. 80(4)/2023 became the reason for widespread and deep divisions and political dissonances among the EU states (Szczepanikova & Van Criekinge, 2018)� The basic political problem testing the internal solidarity of the EU arose from the necessity of accepting responsibility for the refugee and migration crisis by all EU states (Maldini & Takahashi, 2017)� The core of this problem was constituted by the issue of relocation of those arriving from MENA region to all member states, even those uninterested in this fact (like Poland or Hungary), those who could not benefit from it in any form, and which were simply apprehensive of political consequences (loss of social support and subsequent loss in elections) and also of consequences in the area of national security (increase in crime rate, growing unemployment rate, ghettoization, or finally Jihad terrorist attacks -the scenario observed in France, Germany or Belgium) (Bendel, 2017)�…”

The Evolution of Germany’s Response to The 2015 Syrian Refugee Crisis. (c2019)

“…In 2003, The European Council established the Dublin II Regulation as an extension of the previous Dublin law; it was intended to establish the criteria for selecting the member state suitable for examining the asylum application submitted in the EU, which is the responsibility of one specific country (Maldini & Takahashi, 2017). In 2013, the resolution was substituted by the Dublin III regulation in order to precisely define the criteria required to consider a state responsible for an asylum application.…”

“…The suspension of the Schengen agreement proves the absence of solidarity among the member states and the reluctance to reach a cooperative solution to the refugee influx, where individual interests were put above common European interests (Maldini & Takahashi, 2017). Hence, Germany's compliance with the local and international laws played a considerable role in dealing with the refugee crisis.…”

“…As a result, the European Union was trying to approach the crisis by endeavoring to find effective solutions to overcome this critical situation. Yet, rather than trying to reach fair treatment of the refugee crisis among all member states, the European Union appears to be lacking in the ability to compromise and reach a powerful and efficient solution on a European level (Maldini & Takahashi, 2017).…”