Sustainability and EU Migration Law

• Department of Law

The EU Law Working Group and the Migration Working Group host a joint event on the concept of sustainability in EU Migration Law.

Abstract

The PhD research examines the concept of sustainability in EU Migration Law and it develops as a critical legal historical study of EU labour migration. Since the migration crisis of 2015-2016, the EU Commission has put forward sustainable migration as the goal of EU migration policy. However, there is no definition of sustainable migration and the way the objective appears in Commission migration policy documents remains fuzzy and inconclusive. In this, the project undertakes a critical legal historical study of EU labour migration in order to explore whether and how the past can pave the way for a contemporary understanding of sustainable migration.

Specifically, the project looks at two separate migration schemes: a) the free movement of workers framework [1951-1991] and b) the legal framework on migration from third countries to the EU [1974 to present]. The historical examination of these two frameworks uncovers their development as labour migration schemes based on economic drivers. Ultimately, I argue that the contemporary debate on the objective of a sustainable migration cannot but mean the need for labour migration that promotes the growth-oriented system of the EU due to the inherent limitations of the EU legal order.