How to Overcome Deadlock in EU Immigration Politics

Bibliographic Data

ID9954776
AuthorsChristof Roos (0000-0003-0628-4270, University of Bremen Germany, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume51
Issue6
Pages67-79
Publication date2013-07-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Migration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/imig.12079
OpenAlexW2107775621
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited21

Immigration policy is a very unlikely case for EU integration. EU policy‐making is constrained by member states' sovereignty claims and interest heterogeneity. Still, tentative integration towards EU conditions of entry and residence for some immigrant categories can be observed. By using the example of the skilled labour migration directive, the article explains how deadlock in policy‐making was overcome. It explores the factors that led to agreement in the EU immigration policy area, from the Commission's first proposal on labour migration in 2001 to its adoption in 2009. Explanations for integration in the policy area are member states' venue shopping the EU level for changing domestic legislation, their interest in locking‐in national standards in EU law, and the EU Commission's agenda‐framing. Strategic partitioning of policy was also used by actors to overcome deadlock in policy‐making. The reframing of policies, by reducing their scope to a few narrowly defined immigrant categories, influenced their adoption. This mechanism was observed in studying the eight years of policy‐making leading to the labour migration directive. The longitudinal analysis helps to identify the key dynamics that define this nascent EU policy area

Cognitive reframing · Commission · Deadlock · Directive · Economics · European union · Framing (construction · Immigration · Immigration policy · International trade · Legislation · Member state · Member states · Political science · Politics · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub