Papers by Eleonora Frasca
EU Migration Law Blog, 2024
The EU-Tunisia MoU of July 2023 raises a series of legal issues that attracted severe criticisms ... more The EU-Tunisia MoU of July 2023 raises a series of legal issues that attracted severe criticisms and deserve attention. Shedding light on procedural and substantive issues, we focus on the context behind the MoU’s negotiations (1), the soft (political) nature of the instrument and the procedure followed for its adoption (2) and its vague content (3).
European Papers, 2023
The informalisation trend in EU migration law-making is seen most often in EU readmission policy.... more The informalisation trend in EU migration law-making is seen most often in EU readmission policy. Informal readmission agreements and multi-purpose agreements which include readmission objectives have multiplied with new third countries involved in the EU external relations on migration, beyond the EU Neighbourhood. In discussing the legal nature of informal agreements, this Article focuses on two main issues. First, the interplay between informal agreements and conditionality, with positive conditionality replaced by negative conditionality in a blind search for effectiveness in the EU return policy. Second, the use of informal agreements to return or push back asylum seekers are the epitome of the EU externalisation strategy. While informality is part and parcel of the EU readmission policy, increasing informalisation has significant unintended long-term effects, both for the European Union as an international organisation with law-making capacity, and for individuals in a field of law – migration – where human rights should be protected rather than frustrated.
Freedom, Security & Justice: European Legal Studies, 2023
Under the current architecture established by the Common European
Asylum System (CEAS), asylum se... more Under the current architecture established by the Common European
Asylum System (CEAS), asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection cannot move freely within the EU territory. Their legal status as third-country nationals is linked to the Member State responsible for their asylum application. Even so, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection continue to move before and after acquiring a status. Both the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive show that it is possible to pose a disruptive challenge to this legal framework and foster a reflection on the extent to which current restrictions on intra-EU free movement rights of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of an international protection status are necessary, effective and respectful of fundamental rights.
Frontiers, 2023
Soft law plays an increasing role in EU external migration law, particularly in the context of EU... more Soft law plays an increasing role in EU external migration law, particularly in the context of EU-Africa cooperation on migration. A legal-analytical inquiry into the formats and functions of soft law, based on the example of EU-Africa cooperation on migration, reveals that the EU preference for soft law is functional to achieve the EU's own migration objectives in Africa, namely preventing and containing irregular migration, rather than facilitating mobility, as envisaged in the UN Global Compact for Migration. This article presents and discusses the formats of soft law in EU-Africa cooperation, distinguishing between informal agreements and quasi-legal mechanisms for cooperation, and their respective para-law and pre-law functions. It then suggests that while informal agreements set the broad objectives of international cooperation and prepare the ground for legal changes in third countries, quasi-legal mechanisms for cooperation guarantee their implementation. Their combined effects ignite broader processes of domestic reforms in the African States through a technique of legal influence.
Cahiers de l'EDEM, 2023
In Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Thai mother of a Dutch minor child), the Court of... more In Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Thai mother of a Dutch minor child), the Court of Justice of the European Union interprets Article 20 TFEU in a case where the mother of an EU citizen, who is a minor child born and living in a third country, applies for a derived right of residence in the Member State of which the child is a national. This case note focuses on the Court’s fluctuating approach to the best interests of the child and inconsistent use of references to Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. This analysis compares the Advocate General’s opinion and the Court’s decision and points out the differences in their reasoning about the best interests of the child.
EU Migration Law Blog, 2023
While the New Pact on Migration and Asylum remains stuck in Brussels between negotiations and ren... more While the New Pact on Migration and Asylum remains stuck in Brussels between negotiations and renewals of the Council’s presidencies, ‘emergencies’ routinely shaken the EU migration and asylum governance and prompt a plethora of soft law solutions. These acts have been mushrooming in the last few years. The most recent example is the EU Action Plan for the Central Mediterranean, presented on 21 November 2022 by the Commissioner for Home Affairs and later endorsed by the extraordinary JHA Council on 25 November 2022.
Journal de droit européen (J.D.E.), 2023
L’accueil, par protection temporaire, des personnes fuyant l’Ukraine contraste singulièrement ave... more L’accueil, par protection temporaire, des personnes fuyant l’Ukraine contraste singulièrement avec la multiplication des dérogations aux droits fondamentaux d’autres migrants. Plus qu’avant, la Cour de justice affine sa jurisprudence par de nombreuses références à la Charte des droits fondamentaux. Dans la jurisprudence de 2022, plusieurs affaires concernent la difficile circulation des familles de réfugiés au sein de l'Union européenne.
Common Market Law Review, 2023
This article discusses whether and how the best interests of the child, enshrined in Article 24(2... more This article discusses whether and how the best interests of the child, enshrined in Article 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, became an instrument for increased protection of the rights of migrant children and their families in the European Union. First, an overview is presented of the temporal and substantive expansion of the case law of the European Court of Justice reflecting on the use of references to Article 24(2) of the Charter. Then, a range of issues is analysed concerning the interpretation of the legal instruments of the Common European Asylum System, the Family Reunification Directive, and the Return Directive. The ECJ decisions are grouped by sub-topics and presented in chronological order. This analysis allows for a reflection of the evolution of the Court's interpretation of the best interests of the child in this field of Union law. It is observed that the primary consideration of the best interests of the child is gradually becoming, if not a general principle, at least a safeguard principle for the genuine enjoyment of the substance of children's rights.
I rapporti tra attori pubblici e attori privati nella gestione dell'immigrazione e dell'asilo, 2022
Il presente lavoro analizza il contesto peculiare delle frontiere europee e dei relativi controll... more Il presente lavoro analizza il contesto peculiare delle frontiere europee e dei relativi controlli nell’ambito dell’area Schengen. Con riferimento all’assenza di controlli alle frontiere interne, si dà conto dei c.d. movimenti secondari, mentre, rispetto alle frontiere esterne, si esamina la politica dei visti e l’azione esterna dell’Unione nei Paesi terzi. Le pratiche di anticipazione, esternalizzazione e privatizzazione dei controlli alle frontiere producono una segmentazione delle verifiche, una scarsa trasparenza delle diverse fasi del controllo e l’extra-territorialità dello stesso. Da qui discende la difficol-tà a intervenire nel merito di tali pratiche e di assoggettarle a eventuale controllo da parte dei giudici. È su questo aspetto, in particolare, che si concentra il presente contributo.
Journal de droit européen (JDE), 2022
La Cour maintient le refus de tout automatisme dans la prise de décision par les autorités, tant ... more La Cour maintient le refus de tout automatisme dans la prise de décision par les autorités, tant en matière d’asile que d’éloignement, mais elle montre aussi une réticence à se prononcer sur l’applicabilité de certaines dispositions de la Charte des droits fondamentaux, à l’exception de l’article 24 sur les droits de l’enfant.
European Journal of Migration and Law, 2022
This Article summarises the complex ebbs and flows of EU migration law and policy. It is the resu... more This Article summarises the complex ebbs and flows of EU migration law and policy. It is the result of an interdisciplinary research project called GLOBMIG, which includes a legal inventory that can be used by any reader or researcher. In the Article, we focus on the main outcomes observable from the inventory by taking several examples from EU legislation and case law that try to capture the evolution of migration law and governance in Europe during the last four decades. Key issues and their underlying dynamics are explored under three major trends: 1) State sovereignty vs migrants’ individual rights; 2) traditional law-making vs informal pragmatic governance; 3) unilateral vs multilateral migration governance. Each trend confirms the tension, but also the positive interaction, between competing interests as well as period of fluctuations between them. Two earmarks of EU migration law are taken into account: the internal and external dimension layout of migration and asylum law and the relationship between free movement of EU citizens and third country national immigration.
Cahiers de l'EDEM, 2021
L’arrêt ASGI e.a. de la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne contribue à sa jurisprudence sur l’... more L’arrêt ASGI e.a. de la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne contribue à sa jurisprudence sur l’étendue des clauses d’égalité de traitement dans les directives européennes qui régissent les différents statuts juridiques des ressortissants de pays tiers. Il s’agit de la première affaire dans laquelle la Cour interprète les clauses d’égalité dans l’accès aux biens et aux services offerts au public. L’arrêt fournit une occasion de revenir sur cette jurisprudence et de la replacer dans le contexte des questions préjudicielles déjà posées à la Cour dans cette matière.
ADiM Blog (Osservatorio della giurisprudenza), 2021
Con il caso D.A. e altri c. Polonia, la Corte EDU è tornata a pronunciarsi sui respingimenti som... more Con il caso D.A. e altri c. Polonia, la Corte EDU è tornata a pronunciarsi sui respingimenti sommari dalla Polonia alla Bielorussia e ha dichiarato violazione dell’articolo 3 CEDU per il diniego di accesso alla procedura d’asilo e per il rischio di refoulement a catena, dell’art. 4 protocollo n. 4 CEDU per mancanza di una valutazione individualizzata delle circostanze personali dei ricorrenti e dell’art. 13 CEDU per l’assenza di un ricorso con effetto sospensivo automatico in grado di prevenirne l’espulsione. I fatti di causa mettono in luce la scarsa effettività del diritto europeo nelle zone di frontiera nonché l’assenza di meccanismi di monitoraggio efficaci volti a prevenire le violazioni di diritti fondamentali delle persone migranti.
European Journal of Human Rights, 2020
This paper examines the European Union’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the ... more This paper examines the European Union’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the common systems of asylum and migration governance while questioning the delicate balance between sovereignties, public health needs and migrants fundamental rights. If public health reasons provide a legal justification for the measures taken, the measures introduced by the EU Member States also produced various side effects. On the one hand, the multiplic- ity and variety of unilateral national reactions contributed to the already fragmented and flawed implementation of the Schengen and the Dublin frameworks. On the other hand, some of those measures significantly affected fundamental rights of migrants, including asylum seekers. Responding to these findings will require, in the short term, a strict control of fundamental rights by the Courts and, in the long term, a reconstruction of the common policies both on the free movement of persons and on asylum and migration.
Costituzionalismo.it, 2021
Questo contributo analizza il Nuovo Patto sulla migrazione e l’asilo alla luce delle evoluzioni d... more Questo contributo analizza il Nuovo Patto sulla migrazione e l’asilo alla luce delle evoluzioni del diritto europeo e di alcune macro-tendenze che ne ca- ratterizzano lo sviluppo. L’odierna proposta di riforma della Commissione europea interviene in un contesto di cicliche crisi, tipico dell’integrazione eu- ropea, all’indomani del parziale fallimento di quella presentata nel 2016. Ne emerge una riforma in cui la tutela dei diritti umani dei migranti è posta in relazione alle soluzioni pragmatiche di contrasto all’immigrazione irregolare e di ricerca di meccanismi di solidarietà flessibili. L’esigenza di inglobare le misure emergenziali emerse nel corso degli ultimi anni nel quadro giuridico dell’Unione si confronta, infatti, con le politiche interne degli Stati membri e la necessità di un più efficace coordinamento delle stesse.
Sidiblog, 2021
Negli ultimi anni, le relazioni internazionali dell’Unione europea con i Paesi terzi hanno riguar... more Negli ultimi anni, le relazioni internazionali dell’Unione europea con i Paesi terzi hanno riguardato sempre di più i fenomeni migratori. Lo stallo nella cooperazione tra autorità marocchine e autorità spagnole a Ceuta, dovuto all’assopimento repentino e inatteso dei controlli alla frontiera dal lato marocchino, può essere interpretato in vario modo: di certo, la conseguenza è stata quella di una forte destabilizzazione della situazione alla frontiera. Inoltre, è il segno che il Marocco può ritornare unilateralmente sugli impegni presi con l’Unione in materia di prevenzione e controllo degli ingressi irregolari.
Dibattito CeSPI: "L'Italia, l'Europa e il dibattito sulla nuova politica migratoria", 2021
Lungi dal rimanere una questione di sovranità, nel rispetto del principio che stabilisce l’uguagl... more Lungi dal rimanere una questione di sovranità, nel rispetto del principio che stabilisce l’uguaglianza sovrana di tutti gli Stati, nella cooperazione tra i Paesi africani e l’Unione europea il controllo delle frontiere diviene un argomento cardine delle relazioni internazionali e diplomatiche a tal punto da essere integrato in altre politiche estere. In questa lunga relazione fra Africa e UE, necessaria e significativa per entrambe, sembra che sia prediletta una visione distorta delle migrazioni.
Queen Mary Law Journal, 2021
Through a variety of examples, an appraisal of EU third-country informal cooperation on migration... more Through a variety of examples, an appraisal of EU third-country informal cooperation on migration is provided to show that a preference towards softer instruments of cooperation has emerged. To illustrate the breadth and depth of such informal tools, four perspectives are adopted: first, a geographical one, which elucidates the reach of the EU action; second, a perspective related to the vastness and variety of the objectives pursued through informal cooperation; third, one which focuses on the role of funding in support of this action; and lastly, a perspective which examines the narrative framework of soft cooperation. This paper aims to assess whether and to what extent this trend reflects either a 'more' or 'less' law approach to third country migration cooperation in the EU. Through the lens of European soft law theory, the status of informal cooperation within the realm of soft law is examined. As the choice of 'more' or 'less' law is inherently political, the preference for alternative law-making methods can have an immense impact on the functioning of a legal system. Thus, some of the practical consequences produced by soft law in this field are presented, namely de-proceduralisation, de-formalisation and de-legalisation.
Cahier de l'EDEM, 2020
With the ruling RNNS and KA (C-225/19 and C-226/19), the CJEU deals with the prior consultation p... more With the ruling RNNS and KA (C-225/19 and C-226/19), the CJEU deals with the prior consultation procedure in the context of visa application whereby a Member State can object to the issuing of a Schengen visa by another Member States. On the one hand, the Court strengthens the procedural safeguards surrounding the decision of refusal, by clarifying (and expanding) the scope of the duty to state reasons for the decision of refusal. On the other hand, it complexifies the scope of the right to an effective remedy (and of appeal procedures) by judging that the domestic Court that adopted the final decision on the visa cannot review the merits of the objection of the other Member State.
Strasbourg Observers, 2020
The M.A. v. Belgium judgement of the European Court of Human Rights is important for three reason... more The M.A. v. Belgium judgement of the European Court of Human Rights is important for three reasons. Firstly, it provides clarification on the real and effective access to asylum procedures, particularly in cases where applicants are held in pre-removal detention and thus in a situation of increased vulnerability. Secondly, the judgment sheds lights on the procedural guarantees surrounding the organisation of meetings between an applicant and the authorities of their country of origin with a view to positively identify and issue documents for their return, before the applicant’s protection needs have been assessed. Thirdly, the Court rejected the State’s arguments regarding the voluntary character of the applicant’s return to Sudan and provided guidelines to clearly distinguish voluntary departure from forcible return.
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Papers by Eleonora Frasca
Asylum System (CEAS), asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection cannot move freely within the EU territory. Their legal status as third-country nationals is linked to the Member State responsible for their asylum application. Even so, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection continue to move before and after acquiring a status. Both the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive show that it is possible to pose a disruptive challenge to this legal framework and foster a reflection on the extent to which current restrictions on intra-EU free movement rights of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of an international protection status are necessary, effective and respectful of fundamental rights.
Asylum System (CEAS), asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection cannot move freely within the EU territory. Their legal status as third-country nationals is linked to the Member State responsible for their asylum application. Even so, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection continue to move before and after acquiring a status. Both the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive show that it is possible to pose a disruptive challenge to this legal framework and foster a reflection on the extent to which current restrictions on intra-EU free movement rights of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of an international protection status are necessary, effective and respectful of fundamental rights.
The Italian pilot project known as “Humanitarian Corridors” is an example of civil society’s commitment. A coalition of faith-based organisations, namely the Italian Federation of Evangelical Churches, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and the Waldensian Church acted as policy entrepreneurs and advocated a policy proposal that makes an innovative use of visas. These are issued on humanitarian grounds and based on the Community Code on Visas. Migrants in need of protection are provided with a safe travel to Italy, and supported and assisted during the reception and socio-economic integration process.
This research is part of the broader topic of alternative legal pathways to Europe. Civil society actions and bottom-up projects that target refugees and immigrants protection, such as the Humanitarian Corridors, fill the gap left by European and national policymakers at the time of the so-called “refugee crisis.” These initiatives are based on values such as solidarity, welcome, and have the objective of decreasing mortality in the Mediterranean.
This case study explores the Humanitarian Corridors key actors’ success in advocating for a policy change. Networks, resources, power and persuasions, and knowledge are some of the factors that can explain the policy achievements of these civil society organisations. Through 15 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, who were directly or indirectly involved in the Humanitarian Corridors, this study extensively explored the motivation, multiple steps, challenges, and objectives behind this action in order to understand how this policy emerged.