Migration Control Logics and Strategies in Europe: A North-South Comparison

Description

Building upon the concept of migration regime, this open access book brings together the works of scholars who have investigated logics and routines of action in the field of immigration control within a single and innovative theoretical framework. The chapters cover a wide range of policy domains, from visa policy to the externalisation of controls, labour migration to asylum, internal controls towards irregular migration to restrictions for intra-EU mobility. By unravelling organisational strategies and practices across Europe, the book does not only contribute to dismantling the very idea of the European North-South divide in migration but also shows how Europe really works in the field of migration in times of deep economic, asylum and health crises.  In this perspective, the book questions the widespread understanding of migration control outcomes as simply the result of more or less effective state policies without considering the embeddedness of the national policy goals and strategies in the dynamic interplay of different economies, institutional cultures and geopolitical positions. Foreword Acknowledgements Contents Chapter 1: Introduction: Understanding Migration Controls in Europe 1.1 From Models of Migration Control to Migration Control Regimes 1.2 The North-South Divide as the Undying European Cleavage 1.3 E Pluribus Unum: Bringing Like-Minded Scholars Together References Part I: Visa Policy and External Controls Chapter 2: External Controls: Policing Entries, Enforcing Exits 2.1 Introduction: Do External Control Policies “Converge”? 2.2 A Critique of the Implicit Conceptual Framing of Debates on Convergence 2.3 A Tale of Policy Convergence: Short-Term Visas as a Generalised System of Migration Control 2.3.1 Patterns of Short-Term Visas Issued by European States 2.4 Return and Removal Policies: Failed Convergence and the Inconsistency of the North-South Divide Argument 2.4.1 EU Return Policies: A North/South Divide? 2.5 Conclusions Appendix A Note on Data References Documents Cited Chapter 3: Practices of External Control: Is There a North-South Divide? 3.1 The Logics of External Control: From Schengen to Italy 3.2 The Practices of External Control: A View from EU Texts 3.3 The Blurring Boundaries of Control Practices 3.4 A Model of “Europeanization” from Below? 3.5 Conclusions References Part II: The Externalisation of Control Chapter 4: A “European” Externalisation Strategy? A Transnational Perspective on Aid, Border Regimes, and the EU Trust Fund for Africa in Morocco 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Theory: Transnational Governmentality, the Transnational Social Field, and Governing Through Aid 4.3 Governing Migration Through Aid in the Western Mediterranean 4.4 What the Implementation of the EUTF Tells About “Externalisation” 4.4.1 De-centring and Re-centring Morocco in the European Border Control Strategy 4.4.2 Heterogeneous Strategies and the NGO-Isation of EU Member States 4.4.3 The EUTF and Morocco’s Migration Diplomacy 4.5 Conclusion References Chapter 5: The Genealogy of the External Dimension of the Spanish Immigration Regime: When a Bricolage National Policy Becomes a Driver of Europeanisation 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Top-Down Europeanisation: Spain’s European Obligations and National Apathy 5.3 The Transition: Spain’s Ascent to an Active Role in the Development of the External Dimension of the European Immigration Regime 5.4 Bottom-Up Europeanisation: Spain’s Key Role in the Construction of the External Dimension of Immigration Policy 5.5 Spain: A Model for the External Dimension of Immigration Policies in Europe? 5.6 Conclusions: Reaping the Benefits? References Part III: Internal Controls Chapter 6: Challenges and Ambiguities of the Policies for Immigrants’ Regularisation: The Portuguese Case in Context 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Regularisations in Portugal: In Search of a Policy 6.2.1 A Series of Policy Measures 6.2.2 The Changing Alignment of Interests: The Erosion of the Political Consensus Around Immigration? 6.3 The Portuguese Case in Perspective 6.4 Final Remarks References Chapter 7: Knowledge Production Through Regularisation and Ex-Post Regulation Strategies: Italy and Germany Compared 7.1 Introduction 7.2 When the Exception Becomes the Rule: The Role of Regularisations in the Italian Migration Regime 7.3 The Path to “Real” Residence: Forms of Regularisation in the German Migration Regime 7.3.1 From the Suspension of Deportation to Residence Regularisation 7.3.2 Lights and Shadows of Ex-Post Regulation Tools in Germany 7.4 Conclusion: The Significance of Regularisations and Ex-Post Regulations Across Regimes References Chapter 8: Differently Similar: The Quest for Migration Control in the Netherlands and Spain 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Quest for Migration Control: Policies and Implementation 8.3 Internal Controls in Amsterdam and Madrid: A Case Study 8.3.1 Work Controls 8.3.2 Ad-hoc Identity and Documentation Controls 8.3.3 Housing and Healthcare Controls 8.4 Internal Migration Controls in the Netherlands and Spain: Differently Similar? References Part IV: Labour Migration Policy Chapter 9: “Selecting by Origin” Revisited: On the Particularistic Turn of German Labour Migration Policy 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Source-Country Particularism: Germany’s Labour Migration Regime Before 2000 9.2.1 The Pioneer of Labour Migration Policy in Post War-Germany: Guest Worker Recruitment 1955–1973 9.2.2 Exceptions from the Ban After 1973: Migration by Ordinance and Bilateral Agreements in the 1990s 9.3 Triumph of Meritocracy: A Universalized Regime for the Twenty-First Century 9.3.1 First Steps of Farewell to a Labour Migration Policy Based on Countries of Origin: The German Green Card 9.3.2 Qualifications in the Centre: The Immigration Act of 2005 as Paradigm Shift 9.3.3 Implementing the Blue Card – And Much More Than That 9.3.4 The Culmination of Selecting by Qualifications: The Skilled Immigration Act 9.4 Back to the Sixties: The Return of a Policy of “Selecting by Country of Origin”? 9.4.1 Selecting by Origin in the Legal Framework: The Western Balkans Regulation 9.4.2 The Institutional Framework: Labour Demand, Migration Control and Development Cooperation as Drivers of Particularism 9.4.2.1 Triple-Win Programmes, Bilateral Agreements and Skilled Labour Bridges 9.4.2.2 Migration Advisory Centres 9.4.2.3 Recruiting Seasonal Workers 9.5 Discussion and Conclusion: Blurring Boundaries and Unexpected Similarities Between Germany and Southern Europe References Chapter 10: The Admission of Foreign Workers to Italy: Closing the “Gap” with Northern Europe 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Northern European Labour Immigration Regimes 10.3 The Italian Labour Immigration Regime 10.3.1 Italian Labour Immigration Regime Mid 1990s – 2008 10.3.1.1 Entry Mechanisms: Annual Quotas and Recruitment from Abroad 10.3.1.2 Regularisations 10.3.1.3 Mobile EU Citizens: Functional Equivalents of Non-EU Labour Immigrants 10.3.2 Italian Labour Immigration Regime 2008–2020 10.3.2.1 Drivers of Policy Change: Economic and Humanitarian Crises and Alternative Sources of Labour 10.3.2.2 Quantitative and Qualitative Changes in Annual Quotas 10.3.2.3 Regularisations 10.3.2.4 The Facilitation of Highly Skilled Non-EU Labour Immigrants 10.4 Differences and Similarities Between the Italian and Northern European Regimes 10.4.1 Differences 10.4.1.1 Admission of Low and Medium Skilled Non-EU Migrant Workers 10.4.1.2 Inflexibility 10.4.1.3 Implementation Gaps 10.4.2 Similarities 10.4.2.1 Entry Mechanisms and Skills 10.4.2.2 Inflexibility and Implementation Gaps 10.4.2.3 Free Movement and Functional Equivalents to Non-EU Labour Migrants 10.5 Conclusion References Chapter 11: Seasonal Workers in Agriculture: The Cases of Spain and The Netherlands in Times of Covid-19 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Migration Regimes in the Light of the Governance of MLS 11.3 Spain 11.3.1 Becoming an Immigration Country 11.3.2 Labour Migration Policies 11.3.3 Agricultural Seasonal Work: Past and Present 11.3.4 Working in Times of Covid-19 11.4 The Netherlands 11.4.1 Three Origins of Immigration 11.4.2 Labour Immigration Policies 11.4.3 Seasonal Work: Past and Present 11.4.4 Working in Times of Covid-19 11.5 Conclusion References Part V: Intra-EU Mobility Chapter 12: Migration Policy and Welfare Chauvinism in the United Kingdom: European Divergence or Trend-Setting? 12.1 Introduction: The European Way to Brexit 12.2 Post-war Britain: Between Welfare Chauvinism and European Marketisation 12.3 Global Britain at the Heart of the European Regime 12.4 Austerity and the “Hostile Environment” 12.5 Brexit: Reconfiguring the Migration-Welfare Nexus 12.6 Conclusions: A Very British European Regime? References Chapter 13: Turning the Welfare-Migration Nexus Upside-Down: The Case of European Retirees in Spain 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Intra-EU Retirement Migration in Europe and in Spain: An Overview 13.2.1 The Healthcare “Scrounger” Stereotype 13.3 Cross-Border Healthcare Provision for EU Citizens 13.3.1 The European Framework 13.3.2 The Provision of Cross-Border Healthcare in Spain 13.4 Intra-EU Mobility: Between Welfare Restrictions and New Market Opportunities 13.5 Conclusion References Part VI: Asylum Policy Chapter 14: Welcome Culture and Bureaucratic Ambiguity: Germany’s Complex Asylum Regime 14.1 Welcome Culture in the Crisis of 2015 and Afterwards 14.2 Quality Problems in the German Asylum Decision System 14.3 British and Italian Parallels and the Common Tension Between Asylum Principles and the Political Will to Reject Asylum Claims 14.4 The Policies of Backlog and Encampment 14.5 Best Practices in Europe and the Reluctance to Optimise 14.6 Conclusion: Administrative Ambiguity in an Integrative Asylum Regime 14.7 Postscript: The New Regime for Displaced Ukrainians – A Blueprint? References Chapter 15: Looking Into Policy Change: How the Italian Asylum Regime Came of Age 15.1 Introduction 15.2 From Infancy to Puberty: The Emergence of the Italian Asylum Regime 15.2.1 Infancy, When You Think That Problems Will Fade Away: The 1990s Emergency Approach 15.2.2 Puberty, When the Adults Ask You to Be Responsible: Towards the Setting Up of Ordinary Measures 15.3 Adolescence, When You Protest Against the Adults: The Management of the Arab Spring’s Refugees 15.4 Coming of Age, When You Cannot Step Back Anymore: The European Refugee Crisis 15.5 Weak Political-Institutional Capacity: The Italian Asylum Regime’s Main Hurdle 15.6 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 16: The Greek Asylum Regime: From Latecomer on Reception to Inspirational Model on Asylum Procedures 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Greece’s Asylum Prior to 2015 16.3 The EU-Turkey Statement 2016 and Its Impact on the Greek Reception System 16.3.1 Non-state Actors in Reception 16.3.2 The Local Actors 16.4 Beyond Reception: The Greek Asylum System After the Statement 16.4.1 Reforming Asylum to Fast-Track Returns 16.4.2 The International Protection Act 16.5 The New Pact on Migration and Asylum: Greece an Inspirational Model for Europe? 16.5.1 Screening 16.5.2 Border Procedure 16.5.3 Force Majeure 16.6 Conclusion References Chapter 17: Concluding Remarks: Towards a New Conceptualisation of Similarities and Differences in European Migration Controls 17.1 From the North-South Divide to Blurring Boundaries 17.2 The Converging Composition of Migration Inflows 17.3 Europeanisation as Hybridisation 17.4 Framing Difference: Competing Interests and Internal Constraints 17.4.1 The Role of Competing State Interests 17.4.2 Different Types of Internal Constraints 17.5 Conclusion and Outlook References