Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. The development of the circular migration approach at the international and at the European level -- Chapter 3. Circular migration management in light of standards developed at the international and the European level: a framework for analysis -- Chapter 4. The "circularity" of the EU labour migration legal instruments -- Chapter 5. Implementation of the EU's approach to circular migration at the national level - the case of Poland -- Chapter 6. Implementation of the EU's approach to circular migration at the national level - the case of Bulgaria -- Chapter 7. Comparative analysis, general conclusions and policy recommendations.
By adopting a rights-based approach, this open access book sheds light on the different legal and policy instruments that have been adopted to implement circular migration policies in the EU and their consequences for the rights of migrant workers. It contributes to the understanding of the meaning of this concept in general, in the EU, as well as more specifically with regard to its Eastern neighbourhood. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the formation and implementation of the EU's circular migration approach that has developed through both EU and national instruments on the basis of comparative case study analysis of Bulgaria and Poland's migration law and policy. Furthermore, by applying legal empirical research methods, it draws conclusions about the policy outcomes from the implementation of the various migration instruments falling under the circular migration umbrella and shows the consequences for the rights of migrant workers as a result of the application of different policy options. Along with its value to an academic audience, the book can be used by policy makers at the EU, international and national level as well as international organisations and NGOs working in the field of migration law and policy.
Abstract The idea of facilitating labour mobility for refugees as a pathway for admission is back on the policy agenda. Such complementary pathways are promoted in the Global Compact for Refugees as means to facilitate access to protection and solutions in addition to resettlement, and praised by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as directly contributing to easing pressure on host countries by promoting a fairer sharing of responsibilities. Yet, a significant shortcoming of work-based pathways is that in most cases they do not lead directly to a durable solution but rather offer "a journey to a durable solution" on the basis of temporary residence permits. This begs the question, to what extent can we rely on such pathways to support responsibility sharing and what happens in cases where beneficiaries of such complementary pathways lose residence rights? By comparing the different approaches applied to Ukrainian and Syrian refugees in the European Union, this article concludes that refugee labour mobility in its current state has the potential to contribute to fairer responsibility sharing only cumulatively with other durable solutions and complementary pathways, and when it provides admission facilitation coupled with a fast and clear path to permanent residence or legal mechanisms, ensuring possibilities for extension of residence rights and legality of stay.
The article aims to examine the existing possibilities for social security coordination with Eastern partnership countries by taking as case studies two new Member States with relatively recent migration policies: Bulgaria and Poland. It first presents social security coordination dynamics at the national level, looking into the bilateral agreements concluded by Bulgaria and Poland and at their personal and material scope. Then it moves to an analysis of their implementation based on empirical data gathered through focus groups with migrant workers coming from Ukraine and Russia, interviews with officials and data obtained from the respective Ministries. The article employs a rights-based framework for analysis consisting of international standards in the field of coordination of social security, against which it assesses the bilateral agreements concluded by Bulgaria and Poland with Eastern Partnership countries.
This paper aims to examine the implementation of the EU's circular migration approach and its impact on entry and re-entry conditions for migrant workers from the Eastern partnership countries and Russia. The paper adopts a migrant perspective and analyses to what extent the implementation of EU and national instruments falling under the EU circular migration umbrella foster circularity and comply with international and regional human rights standards and soft law principles. The paper is an implementation study based on comparative legal empirical research. It provides policy and legal analysis of the developed EU and national circular migration instruments by taking Bulgaria and Poland as case studies. The empirical data is gathered through semi-structured interviews with policy-makers at EU and national level, and focus groups with low - and highly skilled labour migrants.
In: Vankova , Z 2017 ' Implementing the EU's Circular Migration Approach: Legal and Migrant Perspectives on Entry and Re-Entry Conditions in Bulgaria and Poland ' European University Institute . https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3004618
This paper aims to examine the implementation of the EU's circular migration approach and its impact on entry and re-entry conditions for migrant workers from the Eastern partnership countries and Russia. The paper adopts a migrant perspective and analyses to what extent the implementation of EU and national instruments falling under the EU circular migration umbrella foster circularity and comply with international and regional human rights standards and soft law principles. The paper is an implementation study based on comparative legal empirical research. It provides policy and legal analysis of the developed EU and national circular migration instruments by taking Bulgaria and Poland as case studies. The empirical data is gathered through semi-structured interviews with policy-makers at EU and national level, and focus groups with low - and highly skilled labour migrants.
In: Tsourdi , E , Ott , A & Vankova , Z 2022 , ' The EU's shifting borders reconsidered: Externalisation, constitutionalisation, and administrative integration ' , European Papers : a journal on law and integration , vol. 7 , no. 1 , pp. 87-108 .
: Borders have gone far beyond their traditional static function of merely demarcating nationstates. Alongside physical border barriers, such as walls and barbwire fences, new technologies driven by sophisticated legal innovations have contributed to the multiplicity of border controls. These legal techniques have turned the border into an individualised moving barrier, conceptualized as a "shifting border" by Ayelet Shachar. Against this backdrop, this Article introduces, conceptually and thematically, the contributions to this Special Section which critically assess the paradigm of the shifting border in the EU and analyse its implications. We first map out intricate legal issues invoked by the rise of hybridity and informality in the EU's cooperation with third countries on migration and the resulting accountability deficit. Next, we scrutinize the physical and legal infrastructures of mobility regulation (and often deflection) that are currently employed at the EU's external territorial borders. We highlight the emergence of increasing horizontal (between the EU and national level) and vertical (across national levels) administrative integration as a prevailing mode of policy implementation at the EU's borders and reflect on the implications, including both challenges and opportunities, of this development. Finally, we scrutinise the Commission's proposals as part of a New Pact on Migration and Asylum with respect to the envisaged processes at the borders and the streamlining of external border control, asylum, and return in a seamless process finding that they create further risks for fundamental rights and procedural guarantees.
This Research Paper is a contribution to a wider cost-of non-Europe assessment in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties that can be found here. The research takes stock of the state of play in European Union cooperation in the area of legal immigration. The Research Paper identifies gaps and barriers of current sectorial and fragmented EU legal immigration acquis. It assesses their economic impacts and impacts at individual level in terms of fundamental rights protection and non-discrimination laid down in international, regional and EU human rights and labour standards. The research highlights the need for 'more EU' in upholding equal treatment standards between third country workers with EU nationals in relation to working and living conditions. The Research Paper elaborates on the potential benefits, cost drivers and feasibility of different policy options for the EU ranging from: better enforcement, to the gradual extension of EU legislation towards other labour market sectors or bringing back to the idea of a Binding Immigration Code. The research concludes that EU internal market, national administrations as well as EU and Third Country Citizens would benefit from more homogenous policy approach in the area of legal migration.