Academic Journal

Externally driven integration in EU migration policy: enabling integration through indifference, undermining it through conflictive politicisation.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Externally driven integration in EU migration policy: enabling integration through indifference, undermining it through conflictive politicisation.
Authors: Zaun, Natascha1 (AUTHOR) natascha.zaun@leuphana.de
Source: Journal of European Public Policy. Aug2026, Vol. 33 Issue 8, p2256-2283. 28p.
Subject Terms: Immigration policy, European integration, Border security, Polarization (Social sciences), Mass migrations, Treaty on European Union (1992)
Company/Entity: European Union
Abstract: This article assesses to what extent we see externally driven integration in EU migration policies, focusing on three different periods over the past thirty years: (1) the path to partial integration of immigration policies through the Treaty of Amsterdam, (2) the full regulatory integration and subsequent consolidation in the 2000s and early 2010s, and (3) a phase of selective integration/EU capacity-building and non-integration since 2015. It argues that immigration policies are the prime example for externally driven EU integration, as policymaking in this area is usually reactive and not programmatic. Leveraging secondary data, original interviews with EU policymakers and original EU documents, it finds that joint external interdependence is not required for EU integration in the area, as long as some member states face (external) interdependence and (external) politicisation of the issue. Non-affected member states willingly accept more integration, as they do not consider themselves (negatively) affected by EU policy. However, once EU migration policies become more conflictively (unevenly) politicised, those previously indifferent about EU integration in the area block it further. This has led to selective integration of less politicised border policies rather than comprehensive integration of immigration policies in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of European Public Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Externally driven integration in EU migration policy: enabling integration through indifference, undermining it through conflictive politicisation.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Immigration+policy%22">Immigration policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22European+integration%22">European integration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Border+security%22">Border security</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Polarization+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Polarization (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mass+migrations%22">Mass migrations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Treaty+on+European+Union+%281992%29%22">Treaty on European Union (1992)</searchLink>
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  Data: This article assesses to what extent we see externally driven integration in EU migration policies, focusing on three different periods over the past thirty years: (1) the path to partial integration of immigration policies through the Treaty of Amsterdam, (2) the full regulatory integration and subsequent consolidation in the 2000s and early 2010s, and (3) a phase of selective integration/EU capacity-building and non-integration since 2015. It argues that immigration policies are the prime example for externally driven EU integration, as policymaking in this area is usually reactive and not programmatic. Leveraging secondary data, original interviews with EU policymakers and original EU documents, it finds that joint external interdependence is not required for EU integration in the area, as long as some member states face (external) interdependence and (external) politicisation of the issue. Non-affected member states willingly accept more integration, as they do not consider themselves (negatively) affected by EU policy. However, once EU migration policies become more conflictively (unevenly) politicised, those previously indifferent about EU integration in the area block it further. This has led to selective integration of less politicised border policies rather than comprehensive integration of immigration policies in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of European Public Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/13501763.2025.2565214
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 28
        StartPage: 2256
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Immigration policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: European integration
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Border security
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Polarization (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mass migrations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Treaty on European Union (1992)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: European Union
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Externally driven integration in EU migration policy: enabling integration through indifference, undermining it through conflictive politicisation.
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 08
              Text: Aug2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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