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Joppke, Christian Georg Maximilian. (2026). EU migration policy and dissensus over liberal democracy. In Ramona Coman, Claudia Bădulescu, Thomas Christiansen, Marta Simoncini (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook over Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in Europe (pp. 517-532). Palgrave Macmillan. Isbn: 978-3-032-22480-4. Isbn: 978-3-032-22483-5. Isbn: 978-3-032-22481-1.

EU migration policy and dissensus over liberal democracy

Christian Joppke
2026
2026
978-3-032-22480-4
978-3-032-22483-5
978-3-032-22481-1
This chapter situates EU migration policy within the liberal-democratic synthesis and its dissolution, arguing that, much like at the state level, this policy is subject to a “liberal paradox”. It traces the gradual supranationalisation of EU migration policy, which is associated with the city names and dates of three major treaty revisions: Maastricht (1992), Amsterdam (1999), and Lisbon (2007). Following Chalmers et al. (2014), I argue that there are four competing themes underlying this policy: market optimisation, security, humanitarianism, and member state solidarity. These themes closely correlate with contested identities of the EU, which has been variably understood as a common market project, emergent supranational state, or cosmopolitan human rights champion. The chapter closes with a look at a restrictive turn after the 2015 Syrian Refugee Crisis, which has launched a trend towards externalising migration control to third countries outside the EU. In this way, the opposite imperatives of maintaining high human rights standards, commensurate with “European values”, and controlling unwanted irregular and asylum migration can be reconciled. Overall, EU migration policy is less a case of dissensus “over” than “within” liberal democracy, shaped by a tension that is inherent in this synthesis.
Joppke, Christian Georg Maximilian. (2026). EU migration policy and dissensus over liberal democracy. In Ramona Coman, Claudia Bădulescu, Thomas Christiansen, Marta Simoncini (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook over Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in Europe (pp. 517-532). Palgrave Macmillan. Isbn: 978-3-032-22480-4. Isbn: 978-3-032-22483-5. Isbn: 978-3-032-22481-1.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11385/265018
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