External publications

EU migration policy: (how) can the next European Commission do better?

Schöfberger, Irene / Niels Keijzer
External Publications (2018)

published on ettg.eu December 10, 2018

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2019 will be an important year of change for the European Union. A new European Commission will take office and succeed Juncker’s 2015-2019 Commission, which he referred to in October 2014 as the ‘last chance Commission’. Juncker, who had stated the ambition of leading a ‘political Commission’, has since vigorously pursued the ten priorities he had set out in his 2014 Political Guidelines. 
When it comes to migration policy, the Commission has definitely acted politically. In the last four years, discussions about migration have mobilised EU citizens, profiled new politicians while forcing others to leave, influenced one member state’s decision to leave the Union, made and unmade alliances between states and institutions, introduced discussions on whether solidarity should be mandatory or differentiated, and had a deep impact on relations with third countries. As the end of the Juncker Commission approaches, it is time to draw a first balance of its work on migration and to look at the three contradictions that made it stumble.