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Solidarity and the Externalization of EU Migration and Asylum Security: A Dual Concept?

Part of the European Union and its Neighbours in a Globalized World book series (EUNGW,volume 9)

Abstract

The chapter examines the European Union principle of solidarity in the context of the externalization of EU security in the areas of asylum and migration. In particular, it explores whether EU solidarity could be perceived as a new concept of the externalization of EU security beyond its borders, namely a dual concept. Considering EU solidarity against the backdrop of Member States’ practices that emerged during the 2015 migrant influx and created a solidarity crisis within the EU, we define the concept of the externalization of security in EU policy and the nexus between security, asylum, and migration. Finally, we develop a common framework of EU solidarity and security externalization in the field of migration and asylum to illustrate the congruence of these two concepts in the case of North Macedonia.

Keywords

  • EU solidarity
  • Externalization of EU security
  • Migration and asylum
  • North Macedonia

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Statistical data reported from the Annual Report 2015 of the International Organization of Migration, see International Organization of Migration (2015).

  2. 2.

    The Visegrád Group is a grouping of four states from Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) called also V4 countries, formed in 1991 with the purpose to get closer to Europe and to enter the European Union and NATO. They have common interest that stem from their geographical location and cultural proximity, and after their entry into the EU, they continued to promote their interest on an EU level. In the context of the migration crisis and in reference to the sharing of responsibility and solidarity between Member States of the EU, the V4 countries criticized EU’s migration policy as insufficient and did not agree with the system of mandatory redistribution of asylum seekers according to set quotas. They openly refused the quota system imposed by the Council (see Council decisions 2015/1523 and 2015/1601 for resettlement of asylum seekers from Greece and Italy, infra footnote n.6) but, agreed with the establishment of the European Border and Coast Guards and the implementation of the joint EU – Turkey Action Plan, Baureová (2018), pp. 99–120.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., pp. 102–103. These are the two states that were majorly exposed to the pressure of the migrant crisis in 2015–2016. Precisely, in 2015 Greece registered the arrival of 856,726 migrants, while in 2016 the number was 173,723 migrants. See Operational Data Portal for Greece – UNCHR. Concerning Italy, the numbers for 2015 point out 153,842 migrants arrived on the Italian coast, and in 2016 the number of arrived irregular migrants by sea was 181,436. See Operational Data Portal for Italy – UNCHR Operational data portal – UNCHR.

  4. 4.

    See Russo (2021), Morgese (2020), Morano-Foadi (2017) and Garcés-Mascareñas (2015).

  5. 5.

    The suspension of the Dublin transfers was initiated by Germany in relation to Syrian asylum seekers, so that Germany could become the Member State responsible for processing their asylum claims. This permitted to revoke the already enforceable return orders for Dublin transfers towards other countries, and to permit to Syrian asylum seekers to bypass the Dublin procedures and to directly examine their asylum claim, see Dernbach (16 August 2015).

  6. 6.

    On the grounds of the European Council meeting on the 25 and 26 June 2015, where Member States committed themselves to reinforce solidarity and responsibility in the EU, among other needs was advanced the necessity to relocate and resettle applicants in clear need of international protection from frontline countries, Greece, and Italy to other EU Member States. Consequently, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2015/1523 of 14 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and of Greece (Official Journal of the European Union L 239/146 from 15.9.2015), by which it established the quota of 40,000 applicants in need of international protection to be relocated to other Member states in favor of Greece and Italy. In the same manner, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2015/1601 of 22 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece (Official Journal of the European Union L 248, 24.9.2015), establishing a further quota of 120,000 applicants in need of international protection to be relocated to other Member states.

  7. 7.

    See Russo (2021), pp. 285–292.

  8. 8.

    Recalling for annulment of the Council Decision 2015/1601/1, Slovakia and Hungary filed a complaint in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union, to which also Poland adhered, supporting the position that the legal base for the Council’s Decision was inappropriate and contrary to the Union procedures. Idem, pp. 286–287.

  9. 9.

    See infra, Sect. 2.

  10. 10.

    See infra, Sect. 4.

  11. 11.

    See infra, Sect. 3.

  12. 12.

    For example, the Syrian refugee Ahmad al Muhammad who was one of the three terrorists who blew themselves at the Stade de France, Paris in November 2015, according to one statement of the French Ministry of Interior was allowed to enter Greece on 3 October 2015 holding an emergency passport. He moved to North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and then eventually arrived in France. The other two terrorist held a false Turkish passport, see Amanpour and Patterson (15 November 2015).

  13. 13.

    See Mogherini (2017).

  14. 14.

    See more in Morando-Foadi (2017), pp. 1–27; and McDonough and Tsourdi (2012), pp. 1–45.

  15. 15.

    See Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Official Journal of the European Communities C364/1 from 18.12.2000.

  16. 16.

    See Morgese (2020), pp. 16–47.

  17. 17.

    Supra footnote 6.

  18. 18.

    See Russo (2021), pp. 281–304.

  19. 19.

    Ibid., pp. 286–287.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    See Carta (2018), pp. 1–24.

  22. 22.

    See more in Garcés-Mascereñas (2015).

  23. 23.

    Pew Research Center (2016).

  24. 24.

    Ibid.

  25. 25.

    See more in Carta (2018), pp. 2–9.

  26. 26.

    See Nikodinovska Krstevska (2022), pp. 120–126.

  27. 27.

    UN News (23 February 2016a).

  28. 28.

    BBC (16 September 2015a); BBC (22 February 2016b); NY Times (23 February 2016).

  29. 29.

    BBC (17 February 2016a).

  30. 30.

    UNHCR (May 2016).

  31. 31.

    BBC (6 August 2015b).

  32. 32.

    See Drangovski (2019).

  33. 33.

    Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (April 2017).

  34. 34.

    European Commission (25 October 2015).

  35. 35.

    Ibid.

  36. 36.

    Amnesty International (25 November 2016).

  37. 37.

    The mechanism was supposed to be operative whenever a Member State would find itself in front of a big number of applications for international protection for which it is responsible, so that in case this number exceed 150% of the threshold identified in the reference key, which is calculated in base of the size of the population and the economy of a Member State. See more in Morgese (2020), pp. 21–22.

  38. 38.

    See more in Pasquale (2020) or consult the package documents of the New Pact on Asylum and Migration directly on: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/migration-and-asylum-package-new-pact-migration-and-asylum-documents-adopted-23-september-2020_en.

  39. 39.

    For more info see Gazi (2021), Pasquale (2020), Morgese (2020) and Russo (2021), pp. 29–303.

  40. 40.

    See Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2021).

  41. 41.

    Matsumoto (2009), p. 199.

  42. 42.

    See Rijpma and Cremona (2007), p. 12.

  43. 43.

    See Manners (2002).

  44. 44.

    See Keukeleire (2002).

  45. 45.

    See Lavanex (2004).

  46. 46.

    See Duke and Ojanen (2007).

  47. 47.

    See Mounier (2007).

  48. 48.

    See Burgess (2009).

  49. 49.

    See Eriksson and Rhinard (2009) and Brandão (2015).

  50. 50.

    See Ruhrmann and FitzGerald (2016).

  51. 51.

    See Rijpma and Cremona (2007).

  52. 52.

    See Parkes (2016a, b).

  53. 53.

    See Eriksson and Rhinard (2009), p. 245.

  54. 54.

    See Lavanex and Wichmann (2008), p. 84.

  55. 55.

    See Lavanex (2006).

  56. 56.

    See Lavenex and Schimmelfenning (2009).

  57. 57.

    See Lavanex (2004), p. 683.

  58. 58.

    See Mounier (2007).

  59. 59.

    Gammeltoft-Hansen and Hathaway (2015), Moreno-Lax and Giuffré (2019), p. 83, Papastavridis (2020), pp. 8–9.

  60. 60.

    ARCI (2016).

  61. 61.

    Keukeleire and Delreux (2014), pp. 232–233.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    Ibid.

  64. 64.

    Boswell (2003), p. 619.

  65. 65.

    Ibid.

  66. 66.

    Wolfers (1962), pp. 73–77.

  67. 67.

    Tocci (2007).

  68. 68.

    Nikodinovska Krstevska (2015), pp. 109–140.

  69. 69.

    Wolfers (1962), p. 73.

  70. 70.

    See more in Lehner (2018).

  71. 71.

    Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14 September 2016) on the European Border and Coast Guard and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC, O.J. L 251.

  72. 72.

    Léonard and Kaunert (2020).

  73. 73.

    Papastavridis (2021).

  74. 74.

    North Macedonia initiated its European integration process in 2001 with the singing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, and in 2005 it received the status of a candidate state for EU membership. More on the European integration process of the country see in www.sep.gov.mk (website of the Secretariat for European affairs of North Macedonia).

  75. 75.

    The Readmission agreement as one of EU’s basic foreign policy instruments in the field of migration and asylum, was signed between the EU and North Macedonia in 2008 (See Agreement between the European Community and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the readmission of persons residing without authorization, Official Journal of the European Union L 334/7 from 9.12.2007). The agreement regulates the mutual readmission of foreigners, whether they are national citizens or third country nationals who do not fulfil the conditions for legal stay.

  76. 76.

    Supra footnote 38.

  77. 77.

    See Nikodinovska Krstevska (2020).

  78. 78.

    See Nikodinovska Krstevska (2022).

  79. 79.

    European Commission (19.10.2021).

  80. 80.

    Op.cit. European Commission (19.10.2021), p. 44.

  81. 81.

    Ibid., pp. 44–45.

  82. 82.

    Following the Refugee crisis in 2015, North Macedonia has amended three times the Law on Asylum and Temporary protection (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 49/2003 and following amendments No.66/2007, 142/2008, 146/2009, 166/2012 and 27/2013). The first amendment came as a response to the migrant influx, whereby the country introduced the ’72-hour travel permit’ to allow irregular migrant to transit its territory without necessarily applying for asylum (Amendments to the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No.101/2015). This was made as a response to Germany’s open-door policy during the first period of the migrant influx in 2015. The second amendment occurred consequent to the signing of the EU-Turkey Deal and the closure of the Balkan route, whereby the country introduced the ‘safe third country’ clause, declaring that all countries from the European Union, EFTA (European Free Trade Agreement) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), were considered as countries of safe origin. Moreover, it introduced a new clause on family reunification, prescribing a prolongation of the period for family reunification (Amendments to the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, N. 71/2016). Finally, in 2018 the country adopted a new Law on International and Temporary Protection that substituted the previous law, being now fully aligned with EU law (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No. 64 from 11.04.2018).

  83. 83.

    See Ministry of Internal Affairs (21 September 2016).

  84. 84.

    In November 2015, North Macedonia started erecting a 100 km razor wire fence along the border with Greece [See Deutsche Welle (8 February 2016)], which was a donation of the Hungarian Government, and together with other instruments such as fingerprint readers, computers, and cameras it was an in-kind assistance to North Macedonia to deal with the influx of migrants, Euobserver (23 November 2015).

  85. 85.

    See Ministry of Internal Affairs (29 December 2015).

  86. 86.

    UN news (23 February 2016b).

  87. 87.

    This type of cooperation has been highly appreciated by countries along the Balkan Route and EU Member States. According to them almost 90% of border controls were efficiently effectuated on the Greek-Macedonian border. These border controls have represented a filter of the migratory flows. This information has been collected from an Anonymous informant from the Macedonian Border Police Unit on the Southern border with Greece, conducted on June 6, 2020, through the ZOOM platform.

  88. 88.

    Op.cit. European Commission (19.10.2021), pp. 41–42.

  89. 89.

    See more in Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) 2014–2020.

  90. 90.

    The Working Arrangement establishing operational cooperation between the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has been signed in 2008 and entered in force on 20 January 2009. The agreement can be consulted on the following link: https://frontex.europa.eu/assets/Key_Documents/Working_Arrangements/WA_with_former_Yugoslav_Republic_of_Macedonia.pdf. Accessed 10 December 2021.

  91. 91.

    For more details see Ranaldi (2020), pp. 295–312.

  92. 92.

    As an example, see Status Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Albania on actions carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of Albania, Official Journal of the European Union L 46/3 from 18.2.2019.

  93. 93.

    European Council (2020).

  94. 94.

    Statewatch (2019).

  95. 95.

    Gotev (2020).

  96. 96.

    See more in Stojkov (2021).

  97. 97.

    Op.cit., European Commission (19.10.2021), p. 45.

  98. 98.

    See Human Rights Watch (2020).

  99. 99.

    See European Court of Auditors (2021).

  100. 100.

    Amnesty International (2020).

  101. 101.

    European Ombudsman (2020).

  102. 102.

    Barker and Zajovič (2020a, b).

  103. 103.

    Ibid.

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Nikodinovska Krstevska, A. (2023). Solidarity and the Externalization of EU Migration and Asylum Security: A Dual Concept?. In: Russo, T., Oriolo, A., Dalia, G. (eds) Solidarity and Rule of Law. European Union and its Neighbours in a Globalized World, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29227-9_8

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