WP 07 : The changing relationships between the Accession countries and their neighbours in the changing landscape of liberty and security

Articles

• Minutes of the 5th CHALLENGE Annual Conference

  17 September 2008, by University of Szeged
  Minutes of the annual conference which took place in Budapest from the 3rd to 5th July 2008.

• On the structural and methodological issues in the field of fundamental and minority rights after the eastward enlargement

  18 December 2007, by Toth Judit
  According to available data there are at least three concerns endangering maintenance or deepening of fundamental legal values of the European Union in the new member states.

• AN ANALYSIS AND CATEGORISATION OF THE ASYLUM APPELLANTS IN MALTA, 2005-2007

  17 December 2007, by Frendo Henry
  This Challenge project report is sourced through a privileged access to archived documentation held at the Refugee Appeals Board, Fort St Elmo, Valletta. This is the tribunal responsible for finally determining refugee status, which the author has chaired since its inception in November 2001. That was just after Malta had legislated to assume responsibility for asylum applications, forgoing its earlier opt-out on the 1967 New York Protocol modifying the 1952 Geneva Convention on Refugees, i.e. no longer limiting asylum to refugees from Europe but extending access to any provenance. This meant, too, that Malta would no longer rely on UNHCR, mainly through its Branch Office in Rome, to interview or review asylum-seekers including appellants, and to help directly by means of arranging permanent third country resettlement for refugees or special humanitarian cases.

• Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy

  3 September 2007, by European Commission
  In 2004, the European Union adopted the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) to support its partners’ political, economic and social reform processes and to deepen bilateral relations with them. During 2005 and 2006, ENP Action Plans were agreed with 10 partners, setting out agreed reform priorities.

• Report of the Conference "Internal and External Challenges" Budapest, 24th-25th May 2007

  13 June 2007, by Toth Judit
  Proceedings were begun by a welcome from Dr Judit Tóth, the chair of the first session, on behalf of the Minority Studies Institute, the Hungarian section of the Challenge Consortium, which is made up of 23 international research institutes. The Consortium concentrates on the changing landscapes of European liberty and security issues, and this conference was to address some of the issues brought up by the enlargement of the EU and the interactions between its various members, and those countries on its borders.

• A Typology of «Transit Zones»

  4 December 2006, by Toth Judit
  The term ‘transit zones’ can be broadly understood in member states as meaning designated places where rejected migrants are physically detained until they are returned to a state that is obliged to receive them back, including their country of origin. Non-EU nationals (eg people without documentation proving their identity, irregular migrants, asylum-seekers and unaccompanied minors) residing inside ‘transit zones’ are subject to the jurisdiction of the territorial state, which remains bound by its international obligations on human rights. However, they are treated in a different wayby comparison with the ordinary legal regime, at least in four aspects (a) detention or restriction of liberty and free movement is designed to prevent their irregular/unlawful entry into the territory, (b) less guarantees are available under the accelerated procedure concerning the substantial evaluation of ‘non-refoulement’ and asylum, (c) absence of publicity, and (d) physical conditions of accommodation are backward in general avoiding further «pull factor effect». In addition to the tough questions of burden-sharing, solidarity and human crisis management for islands as well as for the southern and eastern borders of the EU, transit zones may present the institutionalisation of temporariness as a form of radical social exclusion and marginalisation in modern society and a conservation of borders as dividing lines.

• An Analysis of the Current Common Consular Instructions

  4 December 2006, by Balzacq Thierry, Guild Elspeth, Szymborska Anita, Weinar Agnieszka
  This policy brief presents and critically discusses the content of the Common Consular Instructions (CCI). In this context, the aim of the paper is therefore to offer an analysis of CCI which covers a broad range of aspects, including their operability, their coherence, as well as the technical, legal and political problems they raise. The policy brief then proceeds to address three main sets of questions: What are the technical issues related to the CCI? What are the legal problems related to CCI? What are the political problems related to CCI? Throughout, a particular emphasis is put on the proposed amendments of CCI and their potential impact on individual rights.

• Pas de nouvel élargissement sans réforme de l’UE, pour la commission des affaires constitutionnelles

  28 novembre 2006, par Parlement européen
  La commission des affaires constitutionnelles du PE estime que l’Union européenne doit développer sa structure institutionnelle, financière et politique avant tout nouvel élargissement futur. Tel est le sens du rapport sur les réformes institutionnelles nécessaires pour améliorer la capacité de l’UE à intégrer de nouveaux Etats membres adopté par les députés lundi soir.

• The Polish experiences of visa policy in the context of securitization

  13 June 2006, by Weinar Agnieszka
  Polish policy versus foreigners underwent serious, deep-reaching changes over the last fifteen years. From the country of strict emigration policy, closing in its citizens within the State territory, Poland moved to the other pole of the universe - to an immigration policy aiming at closing out the unwanted individuals. After the euphoria of 1989, with the borders finally open to the Polish citizens but also to foreigners, the myth of Openness towards the outside world, so cherished among the liberated Poles, deteriorated gradually, being replaced by fears and insecurity related to specific parts of the outside world. In this paper I will try to demonstrate the limits of this change.

• Visa Policies of European Union Member States: Monitoring Report

  12 June 2006, by Stefan Batory Foundation
  Stefan Batory Foundation research project focusing on visa policy of the Schengen and non-Schengen EU member states in practice.

• Challenge Training School: Perspectives on the European Neighbourhood Policy

  5 April 2006, by Centre for European Policy Studies, Challenge
  This two-day Training Seminar seeks to examine various aspects of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the domains of visa policy, illegal migration and readmission agreements, asylum and cooperation in the field of international security issues (terrorism, the fight against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction).

• Rapport sur le document de stratégie pour l’élargissement 2005 de la Commission

  12 March 2006, by Brok Elmar, Parlement européen
  Le Parlement Européen se félicite de ce que le document de stratégie de la Commission préconise une Union européenne tournant ses regards vers l’extérieur qui continue à se présenter comme un partenaire fiable pour ses voisins, engagée à promouvoir des démocraties stables et des économies prospères ...

• «EU enlargement and the Western Balkans»

  8 March 2006, by Rehn Olli
  After generations of division and conflict, the EU is peacefully creating a united and free Europe with a carefully managed accession process. For over three decades, the EU has successfully enlarged to a very diverse set of countries. In new circumstances, such as after the collapse of communism, the EU has proved to be a stabilising power - also in Slovenia. For example, the EU used its membership conditionality to project its political and economic values to all transition countries, and continues to do the same today in the Western Balkans.

• «The EU accession process, an effective tool of the European foreign and security policy »

  22 February 2006, by Rehn Olli
  The power of the European Union lies mostly in its soft power. Joseph S. Nye has defined soft power as «the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion». This describes correctly the philosophy of EU accession process. By extending the zone of peace and democracy, the EU has achieved far more through its gravitational pull than it could have achieved by a stick or a sword.

• The first Challenge Training School: Perspectives on the European Neighbourhood Policy

  21 February 2006, by Centre for European Policy Studies, Challenge
  The conduct and experience of integration between the EU and its neighbours creates a unique institutional framework of comprehensive political cooperation. With heightened international concerns about insecurity and illegal migration, the field of Justice, Freedom and Security is now set at the centre of second-generation agreements, new Association Agreements and Action Plans. This two-day Training Seminar seeks to examine various aspects of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the domains of visa policy, illegal migration and readmission agreements, asylum and cooperation in the field of international security (terrorism, the fight against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction)

• Rapport sur la politique européenne de voisinage

  6 February 2006, by Tannock Charles
  Vu la communication de la Commission au Conseil et au Parlement européen intitulée «L’Europe élargie - Voisinage: un nouveau cadre pour les relations avec nos voisins de l’Est et du Sud» (COM(2003)0104), son document d’orientation en matière de politique européenne de voisinage (PEV) (COM(2004)0373), sa proposition concernant un instrument européen de voisinage et de partenariat (COM(2004)0628), sa communication sur les premiers plans d’action dans le cadre de la PEV (COM(2004)0795) et les plans d’action pour l’Ukraine, la Moldova, Israël, la Jordanie, le Maroc, l’Autorité palestinienne et la Tunisie,

• European Neighbourhood Policy: a tool for promoting democracy

  31 January 2006, by Parlement européen
  Parliament adopted a report calling for the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) to be used as a strong tool for consolidating democracy and the rule of law in the EU’s neighbouring countries and promoting democratisation in non-democratic countries such as Belarus. The European Commission should give vigorous support to democratic forces in neighbouring countries, in particular by providing access to independent media and information.

• Elargissement : l’UE doit tenir ses promesses mais tenir compte de sa capacité d’absorption

  31 January 2006, by Parlement européen
  L’Union devrait tenir ses promesses vis-à-vis des pays candidats et futurs candidats, mais également prendre pleinement en compte la capacité d’absorption de l’UE, estiment les députés. Si nécessaire, la Commission devrait proposer une étroite relation multilatérale à tous les pays qui ne se sont pas vus offrir «la perspective de l’adhésion». Les pays qui ont cette perspective devraient être admis sans restriction dans ce cadre multilatéral, option intermédiaire avant la pleine adhésion.

• Migration, External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy

  31 January 2006, by Ferrero-Waldner Benita
  2005 was a difficult year for the EU. The disaffection sweeping certain EU Member States about the role and direction of the EU was brought home sharply. It is understandable that our citizens now take our most impressive achievement, peace, for granted. We should rejoice that they can take it for granted. But that means we have to work hard to show our citizens the EU is relevant to their present-day concerns.

• Les Balkans occidentaux sur la voie de l’Union européenne: renforcer la stabilité et la prospérité

  30 January 2006, by European Commission
  La Commission a proposé aujourd’hui d’encourager les échanges, le développement économique, la circulation de personnes, l’éducation et la recherche, la coopération régionale et le dialogue avec la société civile dans les Balkans occidentaux, dans le cadre de la stratégie de l’UE visant à associer la population de la région à la dynamique européenne. La communication relative aux Balkans occidentaux définit des mesures concrètes pour renforcer la politique et les instruments de l’UE et aider les pays à réaliser leurs aspirations européennes. Elle contribuera à la préparation de la réunion des ministres des affaires étrangères de l’UE et des Balkans occidentaux, prévue à Salzbourg les 10 et 11 mars prochains par la présidence autrichienne.

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