EU migration policy does not sufficiently take into account the real-life circumstances, situations, and changing statuses of aspiring third country nationals migrating to, or residing in, the EU territory. This Report contributes to the AspirE Project (Asian prospects in (re)migration to/within the EU), adopting its humanisation approach to research and investigation. Mapping a range of EU legislative instruments that set out the eligibility conditions and rights of a wide range of third country nationals – workers, students, family members, investors, and tourists, and recalling EU and international fundamental rights and Better Regulation standards, the Report allows for a critical assessment of EU migration policy.
The historical background of EU policy reveals predominantly economically-focused policy drivers and intentions that focus on the attractiveness of some third country nationals, and frames them as objects or economic units rather than as individuals with human dignity. The Report further highlights the significance of transformative shifts in EU-decision-making, as well as the competences and constitutional value of fundamental rights under the Treaties from 2009 onwards – enabling the promotion of equal treatment of third country nationals in EU policy. It concludes that the EU has developed a complex, highly fragmented and compartmentalized legal system that leads to structural discrimination and a lack of legal certainty and transparency characterizing EU regular migration policy. This is driven by utilitarian and economic-related self-interests, standing in contradiction to applicable EU and international standards.
