Katarzyna Cymbranowicz

The first decade of the 21st century was a time when an intensified process of emigration of the citizens of the European Union from the poorer countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the richer countries of Western Europe could be observed, which was possible thanks to the successive enlargements of the Union in 2004, 2007 and 2013. So far, migration and problems associated with it have not brought their claim to the forefront of the EU forum. The situation began to change with a more and more lively ongoing debate about the adverse demographic trends in Europe and the wave of immigrants, mainly from Africa. Given the problems that the EU will have to face, I consider it worthwhile to take on the problem of migration in the context of the European employment policy. Bearing in mind the global economic and financial crisis which caused a reorientation of priorities of the EU strategy on employment, it can be assumed that the current immigration crisis will be even more fraught with consequences. It seems that the EU faces yet another big challenge. The question of whether and how it will cope with it remains open.

The article entitled ‘The development of the European Union in the areas of migration, visa and asylum after 2015. Priorities, effects, perspectives’ is a contribution to the public discourse on one of the biggest problems and challenges facing the European Union in the 21st century from a political, economic and social perspective. The (un)controlled influx of refugees to Europe after 2015, which is the result of political destabilization and the unstable socio-economic situation in the region of North Africa and the Middle East, clearly indicates that during the ‘test’, the existing refugee protection system in the European Union did not pass the ‘exam’. In connection with the above, attempts to modify it have been made at the EU level. This article is a presentation of individual solutions (‘Fortress Europe’, ‘Open Door Policy’, ‘Sluice’), as well as an analysis and evaluation of the possibilities of their implementation in the current difficult crisis conditions.

Praca ta stanowi analizę i ocenę dotychczasowych działań podjętych przez instytucje UE oraz państwa członkowskie w obszarze migracji i azylu. Wykorzystano w niej krajowe i zagraniczne opracowania naukowe oraz materiały prasowe, raporty międzynarodowych organizacji zajmujących się problematyką migracji i uchodŹstwa oraz dane statystyczne zaczerpnięte z baz Eu- rostat, Frontex oraz Międzynarodowej Organizacji ds. Migracji. Czy Europa w rzeczywistości stała się oblężoną (przez migrantów) twierdzą, tj. „Fortess Europe”, czy też sprawdziła się tzw. polityka otwartych drzwi wobec uchodŹców i migrantów przybywających do Europy z regionu Bliskiego Wschodu i Afryki Północnej, tj. „Open Door Policy”? Jak na kryzys zareagowały instytucje unijne i państwa członkowskie? Poszukiwanie odpowiedzi na te pytania prowadzi do refleksji, że obecne ruchy migracyjne uwidaczniają, w jakim stopniu podstawowe idee i wartości europejskie (nie) są respektowane w czasach największej fali migracyjnej od przełomu lat 30. i 40. XX w.

“Fortress Europe” or “Open Door Policy” – attempts to solve the refugee and migration crisis in the European Union in 2011–2017

Abstract

The paper analyses and evaluates the activities currently undertaken by the EU institutions and member states in the area of migration and asylum. Domestic and foreign scientific papers and press materials, reports of international organizations dealing with migration and refugees, and statistical data from the Eurostat, Frontex, and International Organization for Migration data- bases were used for the research. Has Europe in fact become besieged (by migrants), becoming “Fortress Europe”, or has the so-called “Open Door Policy” towards the refugees and migrants coming to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa succeeded? How did the EU institutions and member states react to the crisis? Searching for answers to these questions leads to a reflection that the current migration movements show the extent to which the basic European ideas and values are (not) respected in the time of the greatest migration wave since the turn of the 1930s and 1940s.