One step forward, two steps back: the ambiguous role of Germany in EU Asylum policies

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Drawing on the Core State Power framework, this paper assesses Germany’s ambiguous role in EU asylum policies from signing of the Maastricht Treaty to the present. It demonstrates that Germany has neither taken on the role of a leader nor pursued any consistent course regarding the institutional setup or content of EU asylum policies. However, this does not mean that Germany does not have any preferences in this area. Overall, German governments have supported whatever policy would decrease the country’s share of asylum-seekers vis-à-vis other European countries, in order to achieve two core goals: first, to avoid the material costs resulting from high numbers of asylum-seekers, a preference that is common among state elites; and second, to avoid audience/electoral costs resulting from the comparatively restrictive preferences of the public, especially when these are mobilised by right-wing populist parties.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of European Integration
Volume43
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)157-174
Number of pages18
ISSN0703-6337
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

    Research areas

  • Asylum policies, core State Powers, Germany, leadership
  • Politics

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Performance Saga: Interview 06
  2. A PD Fuzzy Control of a Nonholonomic Car-Like Robot for Drive Assistant Systems
  3. Integrating multiple elements of environmental justice into urban blue space planning using public participation geographic information systems
  4. Sustainable use of ecosystem services under multiple risks
  5. Children's interpretation of ambiguous pronouns based on prior discourse
  6. Organizational practices for the aging workforce
  7. Conditionality of EU funds: an instrument to enforce EU fundamental values?
  8. The micro-processes during repatriate knowledge transfer
  9. Utilization of protein-rich residues in biotechnological processes
  10. Pathways to Implementation: Evidence on How Participation in Environmental Governance Impacts on Environmental Outcomes
  11. Quantifying ecosystem services of rewetted peatlands − the MoorFutures methodologies
  12. Learning Analytics
  13. The Role of Assessment and Quality Management in Transformations towards Sustainable Development
  14. To help or not to help an outgroup member
  15. Mathematics-specific motivations for choosing a mathematics teaching degree study programme
  16. Top-down biological motion perception does not differ between adults scoring high versus low on autism traits
  17. Soil carbon sequestration
  18. Utilizing Synchrotron Radiation for Phase Identification in Mg Alloys
  19. Learning Analytics an Hochschulen
  20. Standing up against Discrimination and Exclusion
  21. CALPHAD-based modeling of pressure-dependent Al, Cu and Li unary systems
  22. Understanding and Communicating Climate Change in Metaphors
  23. The Role of Zn on the Elevated Temperature Compression Behavior of Mg5Nd
  24. Forced exit from the joint-decision trap
  25. Art 159: Composition, procedure and voting
  26. Tree diversity promotes generalist herbivore community patterns in a young subtropical forest experiment