Asylum Policy in the EU: The Case for Deeper Integration

Timothy Hatton

No 2012016, Norface Discussion Paper Series from Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London

Abstract: Over the last decade the locus of policy-making towards asylum seekers and refugees has shifted away from national governments and towards the EU as the Common European Asylum Policy has developed. Most of the focus has been on the harmonisation of policies relating to border control, the processing of asylum claims and reception standards for asylum seekers. But this still falls far short of a fully integrated EU-wide policy. This paper examines the basis upon which a joint EU policy can be justified. I then ask whether superior outcomes can be achieved by harmonisation alone or if more centralised policy-making is necessary. I chart the progress of harmonisation and burden-sharing in the development of the Common European Asylum System and explore its effects. I also study the political feasibility of deeper policy integration by analysing public attitudes in the European Social Survey. I conclude that deeper integration is both desirable and politically possible.

Keywords: Refugees; Asylum seekers; Asylum policy; Harmonisation; Burden-sharing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 F53 F55 H77 H87 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa and nep-eur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.norface-migration.org/publ_uploads/NDP_16_12.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Asylum Policy in the EU: the Case for Deeper Integration (2015)
Working Paper: Asylum Policy in the EU: The Case for Deeper Integration (2012)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nor:wpaper:2012016

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Norface Discussion Paper Series from Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Norface Migration Administrator () and Thomas Cornelissen ().