Politics of the Schengen/Dublin System: The Case of the European Migrant and Refugee Crisis

The Schengen/Dublin system requiring the first EU member state of entry to take full responsibility for migrants and applicants for asylum has placed an asymmetrical burden on EU border states, resulting in an emphasis being placed on the fight against illegal migration and the reduction of protections for refugees. The system has been explained in terms of intergovernmental decision-making and the dominance of security discourse which enabled member states to block the sharing of burdens. This chapter argues against this approach, grounded in mid-range theory, and finds that the regulatory framework is not due to a particular institutional-discursive setting as such but rather due to deeper causes such as the absence of community policies in areas relevant to migrations and asylum. Research into the interaction between issues, positions, decision-making rules and rhetoric applied on the EU level during the European migrant and refugee crisis of 2015 demonstrates that (a) the sharing of burdens as such was in fact not a disputed issue, (b) that there is broad support for the existing policy among member states and (c) that departure from a veto setting triggered nationalist security rhetoric that deepened the crisis suggesting the role of causes at a deeper level.