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EU Integration in the (Post)-Migrant-Crisis Context: Learning New Integration Modes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2020

Iryna Kushnir
Affiliation:
Nottingham Institute of Education, Nottingham Trent University, NottinghamNG11 8NS, UK. Email: iryna.kushnir@ntu.ac.uk
Majella Kilkey
Affiliation:
Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, SheffieldS10 2TU, UK
Francesca Strumia
Affiliation:
School of Law, University of Sheffield, SheffieldS3 7ND, UK

Abstract

This article explores the integration of the European Union (EU) as an institution after the 2015–2016 migrant crisis. Qualitative data from elite interviews in Brussels and policy analysis, in the framework of a bigger project about the impact of the migrant crisis on European integration, highlight EU learning about new integration modes as a key theme following the crisis. The article focuses on this theme and argues that EU integration has been happening through intensive learning after the migrant crisis, whereby the EU has been exploring a combination of certain integration modes: shaping the relationships with candidate countries by restraining from enlargement; shaping the relationships with (prospectively) exiting Member States by considering fuzziness at the borders; and exploring differentiation among the existing Member States, possibly through promoting a two-tier EU, instead of universal deepening. A key contribution lies in applying the notion ‘learning’ to understanding EU integration modes specifically after the migrant crisis.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2020

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