The Contradictions of the European Legal System

CENTRALIZING THE PROCESS OF ADMISSION OR EXPULSION OF MIGRANTS IN EU TERRITORY IS THE SOLUTION, ACCORDING TO A STUDY BY GRAZIELLA ROMEO

Mass migration is a stress test for the European Union where nationalism and cosmopolitan aspirations face each other. A process to centralize the decision on admission into the EU territory could dissolve this ambiguity. This is the thinking of Graziella Romeo, Assistant Professor at the Department of Law. In the working paper Managing mass migration in the European Union between nationalist egoism and cosmopolitan temptations, she tackles the subject by focusing on the interplay between domestic and EU law on mass migration regulation. She wants to understand to what extent the EU rules have absorbed the ideas of citizenship and free movement of persons that shaped the communitarian perspective.

“There is a contradiction between the theoretical premises of the EU transnational legal system and its policy on immigration”, Professor Romeo says. “According to the cosmopolitan perspective of the EU, every citizen can obtain recognition of and protection for their fundamental rights. Yet this narrative is shattered when the Member States have the final word on the admission of a third country migrant into their territory”. A potential solution to this contradiction is the centralization of the decision on admission into the EU territory, a decision that is currently entrusted to territorial commissions and judges of each Member State. This goal can only be achieved in the long run after restructuring procedures and creating new institutions.

“The objective to further build the EU as a political community, by somewhat eroding state sovereignty, may seem a risky choice that is contrary to the common sentiment, but an authentic polity must define who is citizen and who is not. Furthermore, cosmopolitan theories have influenced the shaping of Europe as a place of justice and peace”.

Read more about this topic:
The Mark of the Great Migrations. Article by Andrea Colli
Massimo Anelli. The Political Costs of Emigration
Alessandra Casarico. Market Benefits for Legalized Immigrants
Carlo Devillanova. The Uninformed Find the Door to Healthcare Shut
Joseph-Simon Goerlach. Moving from the South to the North Improves Your Salary. But Not Your Wealth
Paolo Pinotti. Foreign Students at School: How to Break Educational Segregation

 

by Claudio Todesco