Florian Trauner
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ftrauner.bsky.social
Florian Trauner
@ftrauner.bsky.social

Professor of political science at the #VUB and Dean of the VUB’s @bsog.be | working on #EuropeanGovernance; #migration; #asylum; #InternalSecurity | teaching also at the @collegeofeurope.bsky.social

Political science 80%
Sociology 11%

Es freut mich, einen Beitrag für @bpb.de zum Thema
EU-Informationskampagnen zur Abschreckung irregulärer Migration verfasst zu haben. Frei online abrufbar👇

www.bpb.de/themen/migra...
EU-Informationskampagnen zur Abschreckung irregulärer Migration | EU-Migrations- und Asylpolitik | bpb.de
Informationskampagnen sollen „aufklären“, häufig auch mithilfe abschreckender Geschichten und Bilder. Das soll irreguläre Migration verhindern. Funktioniert das?
www.bpb.de

Reposted by Steve Peers

🚨 New publication out!
Together with @linavosyliute.bsky.social, we examine the EU’s risk of falling into a far-right trap in the negotiations on the Return Regulation.
📄 Published as an open-access Policy Brief by @birmm.bsky.social l — free to read & share!

zenodo.org/records/1696...
The EU's Return Regulation: Negotiating on the Basis of Evidence, not Narratives
zenodo.org

Reposted by Steve Peers

Our article on the impact on Russia's war against Ukraine on the reform of the Common European Asylum System has finally ended its "early view"-status. It found a home in the current issue of European Politics and Society - and is still freely accessible to all.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on the reform of the common European asylum system
This article analyses how the Russian invasion and the mass influx of Ukrainians have impacted the Europeanisation dynamics in EU asylum policy, notably the process of reforming the Common European...
www.tandfonline.com

Happy to have engaged with the 'Foundation for Family Businesses and Politics' on the subject of migration, skills shortages and Europe's strive to attract talent.
#SkillsShortage #EuropeanTalent #FamilyBusinesses

youtu.be/0CWWsldfufg?...
Spotlight Brussels with Prof. Florian Trauner: How Can Europe Attract Top Talent?
YouTube video by Stiftung Familienunternehmen und Politik
youtu.be

Reposted by Maarten Vink

Before the 2015 refugee crisis, the cash-strapped World Food Programme had to drop 1/3 of its Syrian refugees from food vouchers in its Middle Eastern programme. A few months later, arrival numbers in Europe increased. Now, 10 years later, all of this seems forgotten...

www.ft.com/content/976f...
Aid cuts are driving migrants to Europe, warns UN refugee chief
Filippo Grandi calls on EU countries to support existing asylum facilities in Africa rather than create new schemes
www.ft.com

Reposted by Florian Trauner

Der Fluchtforschungsblog startet die Blogreihe „10 Jahre nach dem langen Sommer der Migration“!

Den Anfang macht der Artikel „Notfallmaßnahmen in der EU-Asylpolitik – Wenn die Ausnahme zur Regel wird“ von Florian Trauner @ftrauner.bsky.social.

fluchtforschung.net/notfallmassn...

On #WorldRefugeeDay, we reflect on the EU’s asylum system—strained by growing use of national emergency powers to control migration.
Is this eroding EU asylum standards?

📘 Read our new @birmm.bsky.social Policy Brief: zenodo.org/records/1565...

#Refugees #EUAsylum #MigrationPolicy
World Refugee Day 2025: don't let national emergency measures become the new standard of EU asylum policy
zenodo.org

Reposted by Florian Trauner

🎓👏 We are thrilled to share that on 16 June 2025, Folashade Ajayi successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Between making sense of and sensing Black activism in Germany".

The BSoG would like to congratulate Dr. Ajayi on this wonderful achievement!

#PhD #BSoG #VUB #research #BlackActivism

“Enlargement remains the greatest geopolitical success of the EU”. Enlargement commissioner Marta Kos at #EUIA25

#EUIA25 has started. Interesting discussion in the EU’s international role. A first panel is chaired by Julien Jeandesboz and concerns liberalism, borders and sovereignty.

📢 Join us at BIRMM/VUB for a guest lecture by Prof. Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche @mlbg.bsky.social: “Bordering, Ordering, Othering: The Legal Thickening of EU Frontiers” 🗓️ 27 May, 🕛 12:00 PM. Open to all – register here 👉 birmm.research.vub.be/bordering-or... #Migration #EUlaw #BIRMM #VUB
Bordering, ordering, othering, ordering: the legal thickening of EU
birmm.research.vub.be

Ich freue mich sehr, dass mein Beitrag diese neue Blogreihe des Netzwerks @fluchtforschung.bsky.social eröffnet. Er behandelt, wie Mitgliedstaaten anhand von nationalen Notfallmaßnahmen die EU-Asylpolitik mehr und mehr beeinflussen.
Der Fluchtforschungsblog startet die Blogreihe „10 Jahre nach dem langen Sommer der Migration“!

Den Anfang macht der Artikel „Notfallmaßnahmen in der EU-Asylpolitik – Wenn die Ausnahme zur Regel wird“ von Florian Trauner @ftrauner.bsky.social.

fluchtforschung.net/notfallmassn...

Pleased to announce our new publications on the role of narratives in migratory decision-making in the Gambia. A particular focus is on whether EU-promoted narratives can compete with local ones and actually influence migratory decision-making.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The role of EU‐promoted versus local narratives in migratory decision‐making in the Gambia
The EU tries to dissuade potential migrants from coming to Europe irregularly. However, can EU-promoted narratives compete with local ones and actually influence migratory decision-making? This artic....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A great article to understand what Trump is doing to America beyond economic damage. It's about destroying cosmopolitism and installing a security mind-set. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...
Opinion | How to Destroy What Makes America Great
Trump’s tariffs erect a wall between Americans and other people, obstructing the flow not only of goods but also of ideas, contacts, technology and friendships.
www.nytimes.com

If Frontex is beefed up to 30,000 staffers, it will be increasingly member states assisting Frontex in its activities and no longer Frontex assisting member states in theirs.

www.politico.eu/article/eu-w...
EU wants to beef up border agency to 30,000 staffers
European Commission proposal would increase force of EU border patrols under Frontex.
www.politico.eu

Reposted by Florian Trauner

Now out and #openaccess in issue 30(2): Democracy Matters (To Some Extent): Autocracies, Democracies and the Forced Return of Migrants from the EU by Philipp Stutz & Florian Trauner @ftrauner.bsky.social

Download and read for free:
www.tandfonline.com

Great initiative by the #VUB, opening up for American scholars and researchers. The @bsog.be may have to play a particular role in this, being the VUB's most international entity and already having several American colleagues.

www.brusselstimes.com/1490737/brus...
Brussels university VUB opens doors to 'censored' American researchers
"US universities and their scholars are the biggest victims of this political and ideological interference. They are seeing millions in research funding disappear for ideological reasons."
www.brusselstimes.com

Reposted by Florian Trauner

Official text of new proposal for EU Regulation on expulsion of non-EU migrants staying irregularly (replacing the current Returns Directive)

Text - home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/proposal-reg...
Press release - ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Qs and As - ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Proposal for a Regulation establishing a common system for return
Proposal for a Regulation establishing a common system for return
home-affairs.ec.europa.eu

Overall, the discussion on return hubs may cost a lot of political energy while having little real impact. The negotiations of the EP and Council may concentrate on other, more useful aspects of reforming the EU's return directive.

3) A policy such as return hubs may turn out to be expensive while effectively targeting only a relatively small number of migrants.

2) there are tight human rights concerns what may be allowed legally (with the Italy-Albanian deal being a testimony of this);

1) third countries tend to face stiff domestic opposition against externalized EU migration policies in their territory; Cooperating on deportation policies is often framed as a betrayal of the interest of the own citizens.

How will the new Commission plan change the picture? The EU will get new legal possibilities to engage with third countries yet the overarching dynamic may remain comparable:

In a project gathering the EU's return data with every country of the world, we show that the EU's return rate has actually decreased with most third countries, with the exception of the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. Readmission agreements and more EU conditionality did not change much.

The Commission will publish today its proposal "a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union". The overarching objective is to increase the EU's return rate and open possibilities for new measures such as return hubs in third countries. A 🧵

In short, Austria is trying to follow a legal strategy that does not openly violate EU law; that said, Austria is definitely risking that the CJEU may consider that the country overstretches the use of an EU emergency clause.

"A resort to Article 72 TFEU constitutes an ultima ratio if all other courses of action at the European level have proven to be insufficient. This would need to be substantiated in case of doubt", writes the German legal scholar Daniel Thym.