Introduction to EU Asylum and Migration Law

You want to learn about the EU’s new legislative and policy responses to the current “migration crises”, and the challenges of policy formulation and regulation of asylum matters, in a crisis, which does not simply pose a challenge in itself but also entail much broader questions about Europe’s future, identity and responsibility.

This seminar explains the policy considerations and legal concepts related to asylum law, as developed in the European Union’s Area of Freedom Security and Justice, and examines the core principles, concepts and some EU specific institutions related to asylum and refugee law as evolved in the EU’s Common European Asylum System (CEAS), complemented with an introduction to policy considerations and legal concepts related to regular and irregular migration.

First Day

• Registration of participants
• Welcome of participants and opening of the conference Petra Jeney, Senior Lecturer, EIPA Luxembourg – European Centre for Judges and Lawyers
• Common European Asylum System (CEAS) I. The second generation of EU asylum law: qualifying for refugee status and subsidiary protection, harmonized asylum procedures for granting status, rights of refugees. The overview of current EU legal framework will be complemented with a discussion of where the real challenges and problems are in applying this part of the second generation of CEAS laws with regard to qualification and procedure. An account will be made on legislative proposals aiming to amend the current regulatory environment. Boldizsar Nagy, Professor of Public International law and Asylum law at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Faculty of Law, Department of International law
• Common European Asylum System II. The second generation of EU asylum law: determining the Member State responsible processing the asylum claim (the ‘Dublin’ system) and reception conditions. The overview of current EU legal framework will be complemented with a discussion of where the real challenges and problems are in applying this part of the second generation of CEAS laws with regard to burden sharing and reception conditions. An account will be made on legislative proposals aiming to amend the current regulatory environment. Boldizsar Nagy
• Intersections between the Schengen Area and the CEAS The Schengen Area with no internal border control is the most palpable advantage of European integration. The session will discuss how the Common European Asylum Area affects the working and the integrity of the border free area. Petra Jeney
• Panel discussion on future development of the CEAS Through the discussion of small factual scenarios the identification of issues relevant in asylum cases will be highlighted in order to enhance the understanding of legal institutions and terminology. Petra Jeney
• Case studies Through the discussion of small factual scenarios the identification of issues relevant in asylum cases will be highlighted in order to enhance the understanding of legal institutions and terminology Petra Jeney

Second Day

• EU immigration law – The Returns Directive The session explains the central instrument of the EU’s return policy: the Returns Directive and highlights the underlying member States practice and CJEU case law. Aniel Pahladsingh (NL), Raad van state, The Hague Question
• EU immigration law – tackling irregular migration What does combatting irregular migration entail? EU legislation and policy on the criminalization of immigrant smuggling, employing undeclared immigrant workers, EU-wide standards and procedures for returning irregularly staying non-EU nationals to their country of origin Aniel Pahladsingh (NL)
• EU immigration law – regular migration Is there an EU migration policy? Legislative instruments and policy facilitating legal migration to the EU: the single permit, blue card and seasonal workers. Petra Jeney
• Panel discussion on future development of EU immigration law and its interrelationship with the Schengen Area Aniel Pahladsingh (NL) and Petra Jeney
• Evaluation