Flexible Solidarity in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum: A New Form of Differentiated Integration?

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Table of Contents: I. Introduction. – II. The evolution of differentiated integration in the field of asy-lum. – III. Flexible solidarity in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. – III.1. The Proposal for a Regu-lation on Asylum and Migration Management: A fresh start? – III.2. The management of flexible soli-darity. – III.3. Return sponsorship: A concept that did not please anyone. – IV. Solidarity in cooperat-ing with third countries in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. – V. The gradual approach: To-wards a voluntary solidarity mechanism. – VI. Conclusion.

Abstract: Flexible solidarity is presented by the Commission in the New Pact on Migration and Asy-lum as a solution to break the deadlock in the reform of the EU asylum policy. The aim of this Article is to analyse to what extent the development of flexible solidarity in the field of asylum will allow the EU to address the shortcomings that the CEAS is facing today. The key question is whether differen-tiation as regards solidarity serves to further develop the EU asylum policy by introducing a useful degree of flexibility to accommodate the different interests of the Member States or the multiplica-tion of forms of solidarity will lead in the long run to more disintegration. It will also be assessed to what extent the gradual approach followed by the French Presidency of the Council in the first se-mester of 2022 will allow to make concrete progress on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and achieve the ambition of a comprehensive asylum and migration policy at EU level in the future.

Keywords: New Pact on Migration and Asylum – flexible solidarity – Common European Asylum system – external dimension of migration policies – differentiated integration – return sponsorship.

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European Papers, Vol. 7, 2022, No 3, pp. 1243-1263
ISSN
2499-8249 - doi: 10.15166/2499-8249/613

* Professor of Public International Law and European Law, Jean Monnet Chair in EU External Action, the University of Salamanca, savajuan@usal.es.

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