Connecting Countries and Dividing People                              

The Politics of Burden-Sharing in European Migration Governance

SNF AMBIZIONE project by Dr. Philipp Lutz at the University of Geneva

Migration is both the most visible consequence of globalisation and the the main factor behind the political backlash against a more interconnected world. European countries experience a growing number of immigrants, which is leading to a mounting political crisis due to the absence of adequate governance responses. The conjuncture of open borders within Europe and exposure to external immigration requires collective efforts to effectively govern migration through burden-sharing. This project seeks to understand how the contrasting pressures stemming from the functional interdependence of countries in terms of migration movements and the domestic political contestation of immigration and European solidarity shape the politics of burden-sharing: When and how do European countries contribute to European burden-sharing in refugee protection and border migration control? What interests and norms drive burden-sharing politics in European democracies? To answer these questions, the project gathers a large amount of original data on the contributions of European countries to refugee protection and border control as well as on the burden-sharing preferences of domestic elites and citizens. The research design combines a quantitative-comparative analysis of policy outcomes with comparative case studies to examine domestic policy processes. The combination of macro- and micro-level evidence allows for drawing conclusions about the nature and determinants of burden-sharing politics, as well as the prospects and the limitations of European migration governance. Thereby, the project develops an ambitious research agenda meant to break new conceptual and empirical ground in the study of the fundamental challenge of European migration governance in our time of contested globalisation. The findings will reveal the underlying drivers and resulting outcomes of burden-sharing politics and thereby help scholars and policy-makers to better understand and address the contemporary crisis in migration governance.