The EU integration project through the lens of the Balkan-corridor ‘migrant crisis’

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Kushnir, I. ORCID: 0000-0003-0727-7208, Kilkey, M. and Strumia, F., 2023. The EU integration project through the lens of the Balkan-corridor ‘migrant crisis’. In: M. Kmezić, A. Prodromidou and P. Gkasis, eds., Migration, EU integration and the Balkan route. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9780367423063

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Abstract

This chapter examines the impact on the EU integration project of the European ‘migrant crisis’ along the Balkan corridor. We understand EU integration as both enlargement and deepening. Our hypothesis is that the impacts will have been uneven and differentiated, according to specific countries’ positioning in relation to the EU project and in relation to the ‘migrant crisis’. We, therefore, adopt a two-fold classificatory scheme for countries. Firstly, from the perspective of the role in the EU integration process, we distinguish between candidate countries, existing EU member states and exiting member states. Secondly, from the perspective of countries’ role in the ‘migrant crisis’, we distinguish frontline reception countries, transit countries and countries of preferred destination. We draw on data from a mixed methods study, which consisted of popular discourse analysis, policy analysis and elite interviews with policy-makers at the EU level and selected national levels. The dominant finding is that the ‘migrant crisis’ exposed pre-existing weaknesses and tensions in the institutional architecture of the EU. This has resulted in: 1) the slowing down and putting in question the ultimate desirability of further enlargement; 2) the reinforcing of the aspiration for the creation of a ‘two tier’ EU; 3) the contribution to EU disintegration in the case of the UK by generating confusion over the categories of migrants, and thus, reinforcing pro-Brexit sentiments.

Item Type:

Chapter in book

Creators:

Kushnir, I., Kilkey, M. and Strumia, F.

Publisher:

Routledge

Place of Publication:

Abingdon

Date:

20 October 2023

ISBN:

9780367423063