THE EU’S ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO ESCAPE THE JOINT DECISION TRAP: AN ASSESSMENT IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE 2015 REFUGEE CRISIS

Abstract

After a failed attempt to reform the Dublin III Regulation, the European Commission presented the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in September 2020, aiming to abolish the Dublin Regulation. Although the policy-core remains unchanged, a consensus has not yet been reached on it. In this context, the research focuses on informal ways to cooperate for escaping what Scharpf (1998) calls “the joint decision trap”. Based on this theoretical premise, the article assesses whether exit mechanisms are adequate in resolving the deficiencies of the Common European Asylum System or not. The article argues that exit mechanisms only address the deficiencies to a limited extent. Therefore, they are far from compensating for the lack of reform and constituting a basis for long-term solutions.

Keywords

• The Joint Decision Trap
• the European Union
• Dublin System
• Asylum and Migration Policies

AB’nin Ortak Karar Tuzağından Kaçmak için Alternatif Yolları: 2015 Mülteci Krizi Sonrasında Bir Değerlendirme

Öz

Dublin III Tüzüğü’nün reform girişimleri başarısız olduktan sonra, Avrupa Komisyonu Eylül 2020’de Dublin Tüzüğü’nü yürürlükten kaldırmayı amaçlayan Yeni Göç ve İltica Paktı’nı sunmuştur. Teklifte politikanın özü değişmeden kalmasına rağmen, üzerinde henüz bir fikir birliğine varılmamıştır. Bu bağlamda makale, Scharpf’ın (1998) “ortak karar tuzağı” dediği durumdan kaçmak için gayri resmi iş birliği yollarına odaklanmaktadır. Bu teorik anlayış çerçevesinde makale, Avrupa Ortak İltica Sistemi’nin eksikliklerinin giderilmesinde çıkış mekanizmalarının yeterli olup olmadığını değerlendirmektedir. Makale, çıkış mekanizmalarının sisteminin eksikliklerini yalnızca sınırlı ölçüde ele aldığını savunmaktadır. Bu nedenle, söz konusu mekanizmalar, reform eksikliğini telafi etmekten ve uzun vadeli çözümler için bir temel oluşturmaktan uzaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ortak Karar Tuzağı
• Avrupa Birliği
• Dublin Sistemi
• İltica ve Göç Politikaları

Kaynakça

1. Amnesty International, “A Blueprint for Despair: The Human Rights Impact of the EU-Turkey Deal”, EUR 25/5664/2017, https://www.amnesty.org/download/ Documents/EUR2556642017ENGLISH.PDF, (09.10.2020).
2. Amnesty International, “Fenced Out: Hungary’s violations of the rights of refugees and migrants”, EUR 27/2614/2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/ Documents/EUR2726142015ENGLISH.pdf, (10.10.2020). Beşgür, Elif Cemre, “Alternative Routes to Escape the Joint Decision Trap in the Field of Asylum”, Unpublished master’s thesis, Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Social Sciences, 2020.
3. Beşgür, Elif Cemre, “Alternative Routes to Escape the Joint Decision Trap in the Field of Asylum”, Jean MonneThesis, June 2021, https://www.jeanmonnet.org.tr/ portals/0/yayinlar/JEAN%20MONNE%20THESIS%205.pdf (19.06.2021).
4. Beşgür, Elif Cemre and Utkulu Utku, “Esnek Entegrasyon Temelinde Avrupa Birliği’nin Geleceği Ve Türkiye’nin Yeri: Muhtemel Senaryolar”, Ankara Avrupa Çalışmaları Dergisi 18, no 2 (2020): 325-364 . Borbély, Silvia, “Integration of Refugees in Greece, Hungary and Italy”, European Parliament Policy Department A: Economic and Scientific Policy, 2017, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/614194/IPOL_S TU(2017)614194(ANN02)_EN.pdf , (10.10.2020).
5. Boswell, Christina, “The ‘external dimension’ of EU immigration and asylum policy”, International Affairs 79, no 3 (2003): 619-638. Carrera, Sergio and Cortinovis Roberto, “The Malta declaration on SAR and relocation: A predictable EU solidarity mechanism?”, CEPS Policy Insight, No. 2019-14/October 2019.
6. Catani, Andrea, “The so-called “Malta Agreement”: four months later”, 24 February 2020, https://www.sirius-project.eu/news/so-called-malta-agreement-fourmonths-later, (01.07.2020). Convention Determining the State Responsible for Examining Applications for Asylum Lodged in One of the Member States of the European Communities, OJ C 254/01, 1990. Council of the European Union, “Justice and Home Affairs Council Meeting”, 7-8 October 2019.
7. Council of the European Union, “Council Decision on establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece”,12098/15, 22 September 2015. Council of the European Union, “EU-Turkey Statement, 18 March 2016”, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18/euturkey-statement/, (08.10.2020).
8. Council of the European Union, “Outcome of the Justice and Home Affairs Council Meeting”, 12837/19, Luxembourg, 7 October 2019. Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national, OJ L 50/1.

9. Council Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), OJ L 105.
10. Council Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 June 2013 Establishing the Criteria and Mechanisms for Determining the Member State Responsible for Examining an Application for International Protection Lodged in one of the Member States by a Third-Country National or a Stateless Person (recast), OJ L 180/31.
11. Court of Justice of the European Union, “Slovak Republic and Hungary v Council of the European Union”, Judgement of the Court of C 643/15 and C 647/15, 6 September 2017.
12. ECRE, “Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: 2019”, https://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/hungary/statistics#_ftn1, (19.06.2020).
13. European Commission, “A European agenda on migration”, COM(2015) 240 final, 13 May 2015, Brussels. European Commission, “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum”, COM(2020) 609 final, 23 September 2020, Brussels.
14. European Commission, “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council towards a Reform of the Common EuropeanAsylum System and Enhancing Legal Avenues to Europe”, COM (2016) 197 final, Brussels.
15. European Commission, “Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on asylum and migration management and amending Council Directive (EC) 2003/109 and the proposed Regulation (EU) XXX/XXX [Asylum and Migration Fund]”, COM(2020) 610 final, Brussels.
16. European Commission, “Relocation: EU Solidarity Between Member States”, Press Release November 2017, https://ec.europa.eu/homeaffairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agendamigration/20171114_relocation_eu_solidarity_between_member_states_en.pdf , (22.09.2020). European Commission, “Relocation: Commission launches infringement procedures against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland”, Press Release June 2017, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/DA/IP_17_1607, (08.09.2020).
17. European Commission, “EU-TURKEY Statement: Four years on”, March 2020, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-wedo/policies/european-agenda-migration/20200318_managing-migration-euturkey-statement-4-years-on_en.pdf (10.10.2020). Falkner, Gerda (ed.), The EU’s Decision Traps: Comparing Policies, Oxford University Press, 2011.
18. FRONTEX, “Risk Analysis for 2017”, 2133/2017, Warsaw.
19. Hall, John, “Hungary passes law allowing army to use stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas on migrants, as refugee crisis forces German rail operator to suspend services to and from Austria and Hungary”, Daily Mail, 22 September 2015.
20. Hampshire, James, “Speaking with one voice? The European Union’s global approach to migration and mobility and the limits of international migration cooperation”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42, no 4 (2016): 571- 586.
21. Hein, Christopher, “Old wine in new bottles? Monitoring the debate on the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum”, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 16 June 2021. Hungary Ministry of Interior, “Hungary is suspending re-admission of asylumseekers from other EU Member States”, 23 June 2015, https://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-interior/news/hungary-is-suspendingre-admission-of-asylum-seekers-from-other-eu-member-states, (24.06.2020).
22. Joint Declaration of Intent on a Controlled Emergency Procedure—Voluntary Commitments by Member States for a Predictable Temporary Solidarity Mechanism, 2019, Valletta.
23. Geddes, Andrew, “Migration: differential Institutionalisation and Its Effect” in Policy Change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: How EU Institutions Matter, Florian Trauner and Adriana, Ripoll Servent (eds.), pp. 73-90, London: Routledge, 2015.
24. Guild, Elspeth and Carrera Sergio, “Rethinking Asylum Distribution in the EU-Shall We Start with the Facts?”, CEPS Commentary, 17 June 2016.
25. Government Decree 269/2015 of 15 September 2015 Announcing a Crisis Situation Caused by Mass Immigration and Establishing the Rules related to the Declaration.
26. Jean Monnet Memoirs, translation. R. Mayne Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1978, p.417, cited Gerda Falkner, “The EU’s current crisis and its policy effects: research design and comparative findings”, Journal of European Integration 38, no 3 (2016): 219-235.
27. Mudde, Cas, “The Hungary PM made a ‘rivers of blood’ speech … and no one care”, The Guardian, 30 July 2015.
28. Müller, Patrick and Slominski, Peter, “Agree now – pay later: escaping the joint decision trap in the evolution of the EU emission trading system”, Journal of European Public Policy 20, no 10 (2013): 1425–1442.
29. Neill, Nugent, The Government and politics of the European Union, London: Palgrave, 1999.
30. Peters, B. Guy, “Escaping the joint decision trap: Repetition and Sectoral politics in the European Union”, West European Politics 20, no 2 (1997): 22–36.
31. Pierson, Paul, “The Path to European Integration: A Historical Institutionalist Analysis”, Comparative Political Studies 29, no 2 (1996): 123-163.
32. Pierson, Paul, “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics”, American Political Science Review 94, no 2 (2000): 251-267.
33. Pollack, Mark A., “Creeping competence: the expanding agenda of the European Community”, Journal of Public Policy 14, no 2 (1994): 95–145.
34. Scharpf, Fritz W., “The Joint-Decision Trap: Lessons from German Federalism and European Integration”, Public Administration 66, no 3 (1998): 239–278.
35. Scharpf, Fritz W., “The Joint-Decision Trap Revisited”, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 44, no 4 (2006): 845–864.
36. Scharpf, Fritz W., “The joint decision trap model: context and extensions” in The EU’s Decision Traps: Comparing Policies, ed. Gerda Falkner, pp. 217–237, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
37. Schimmelfennig, Frank, Leuffen Dirk and Rittberger Berthold, “The European Union as a system of differentiated integration: interdependence, politicization and differentiation”, Journal of European Public Policy 22, no 6 (2015): 764- 782.
38. Smeets, Sandrino and Beach, Derek, “When success is an orphan: informal institutional governance and the EU– Turkey deal”, West European Politics 43, no 1 (2020): 129-158.
39. Slominski, Peter and Trauner, Florian, “Reforming me softly – how soft law has changed EU return policy since the migration crisis”, West European Politics 44, no 1 (2020): 93-113.
40. Stubb, Alexander, “A Categorization of Differentiated Integration”, Journal of Common Market Studies 34, no 2 (1996): 283–295.
41. Sundeberg, Diez Olivia, “Diminishing safeguards, increasing returns: Nonrefoulement gaps in the EU return and readmission system”, EPC Discussion Paper, 4 October 2019.
42. Sundeberg, Diez Olivia and Trauner Florian, “EU return sponsorships: High stakes, low gains?”, EPC Discussion Paper, 19 January 2021.
43. Trauner, Florian, “Increased Differentiation as an Engine for Integration” in The EU’s decision traps: comparing policies, Gerda Falkner (ed.), pp. 145-160. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
44. Trauner, Florian, “Asylum policy: the EU’s ‘crises’ and the looming policy regime failure”, Journal of European Integration 38, no 3 (2016): 311-325.
45. Uçarer, Emek M., “Justice and Home Affairs” in European Union Politics, Michelle Cini and Nieves, Perez-Solorzano Barragán (eds). pp. 306-323, 3rd ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
46. UNHCR, “Hungary As a Country of Asylum- Observations on restrictive legal measures and subsequent practice implemented between July 2015 and March 2016”, May 2016, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/57319d514.pdf, (10.07.2020).
47. Natascha, Zaun, “States as Gatekeepers in EU Asylum Politics: Explaining the Nonadoption of a Refugee Quota System”, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 56, no 1 (2018): 44–62.
48. Zaun, Natascha and Roos Christof, “Immigration Policy and European Union Politics” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Zoltán-Kékesi, Mark, “Hungary: Migration and the policy of closed borders”, Association for International Affairs Briefing 18, November 2017.