*** ELZBIETA KUZELEWSKA, AMY WEATERBURN, DARIUSZ KLOZA: Irregular migration as a challenge for democracy. European Integration and Democracy Series Volume 5. Editions Intersentia (Sheraton House, Castle Park, Cambridge, CB3 0AX, UK. Tel.: (44-1223) 370170 – fax: 370169 – Email: mail@intersentia.co.uk – Internet: http://www.intersentia.com ). Intersentia Studies on Courts and Judges Series. 2018, 531 pp., 89 €. ISBN 978-1-78068-622-6.
The migration issue has entered the European arena, sometimes referring to the management of problems that were once considered a priority, such as economic or social issues, on the Greek calendar. This does not mean that the migrants’ crisis is not significant, quite the opposite! And if the theme has become a priority, it is not due to chance, but because it polarises to the point of showing Europe as two-faced, in the midst of an identity crisis. Because between the "Refugees Welcome" campaigns seen in Angela Merkel's Germany and the repeated hostilities against these "foreigners" in Viktor Orban's Hungary, researchers in this field no longer know where to turn their heads. Is it, moreover, a migration crisis or a crisis in the reception of migrants?
In this book, Elzbieta Kuzeleska, Amy Weaterburn and Dariusz Kloza do not attempt to clarify the issue. While they see that the word "migration" is causing discord, they want to understand whether the Old Continent can use it to revive European dynamics, in disuse given the sheer number of discords, the resurgence of national policies in the face of an increasingly shy European supranational power, and the growing importance of an increasingly mainstream and Eurosceptic populism. No, they don't want to propose a solution. But they are trying to understand, by giving the floor to various experts in the field, how the migration issue is closely linked to the European construction. They chose to examine to what extent the past, present and future of irregular migration in Europe are linked to the fundamental values and principles on which Europe has been built, namely democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights. They refuse to focus on the people seeking varied forms of assistance in Europe, and prefer to participate in a debate on the appropriate way to deal with irregular migration: from an ethical, legal and institutional point of view.
Throughout the chapters, the various expert reports therefore make it possible to foster multidisciplinary reflection that raises the question of responsibility in the migrant crisis from the outset: is it that of the Member States or that of the European Union? In particular, they review the legal fundamentals in this regard. As a matter of course when it comes to studying the migrant crisis, the section on solidarity and asylum policies is also covered here. With regard to solidarity, they note in particular the following: "(...) while solidarity is mentioned 21 times in the text of the Treaties, the inflation of references in the most diverse contexts, rather than clarifying its meaning, reveals a fragmented and confusing picture. Such perception of incoherence largely depends on the polysemy of the notion of solidarity, which may refer to rather different things".
Throughout the pages, there is no desire to propose solutions but rather a desire to stimulate an in-depth debate on this point, which is so damaging to the European bloc. Finally, reading this book raises a fundamental question: we are used to taking democratic progress for granted, but are we not in danger of finding ourselves in a Europe in the midst of "de-democratisation"? This formula by the American sociologist Charles Tilly depicts a process in which the equality between state agents and citizens is decreasing, a society in which the protection of the population against arbitrary action by the government is weakened. The question arises when reading this book. And there are many ways to get out of it.
Maryam Benayad
*** MARIE DOUTREPONT: Moria. Chronicle of the limbo of Europe. 180th editions (Espace Livres & Création, 19 rue du Marteau, B-1000 Brussels. Tel.: (32-2) 2185802 - E-mail: info@espace-livres-creation.be- Internet: http://www.180editions.com ). 2018, 160 pp., 15 €. ISBN 978-2-930427-93-5.
This book is proof that the Europe of the citizens, or at least some of its citizens, is not the Europe intended or, at least, considered acceptable by its Member States. It is even a clear statement of divorce from which others, populists and nationalists, paradoxically draw the chestnuts from the fire at the moment. In May 2017, at the call of the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe, Belgian lawyer Marie Doutrepont put her granddaughter and her "family and professional life on hold to sink into Europe's dungeons", namely the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, one of nine camps created in Greece and Italy to provide frontline legal assistance to thousands of refugees. In this "quagmire" located in the heart of a paradise island, she will be busy for three weeks, with a few other lawyers volunteering and one interpreter or another, giving them basic advice: "explanation of the asylum procedure and their rights; assistance (...) in printing or copying documents or translating forms given to them into Greek; preparation for the asylum hearing; sometimes - rarely, in view of the more than limited staff - assistance during a hearing; specific support for vulnerable people"... Here, in this "marshalling yard", it measures up to the point of nausea how much "the European Union is abdicating its responsibilities in its border states", how much "the European technocracy is reviving a sinister tradition that one could have hoped would be over or relegated to distant lands". During her stay, she decided to tell her truth about the Moria hotspot through a letter she sent every day to her family and friends to "purge herself of the day's emotions". The result is this collection, a strong, "partial and fragmented" but profoundly human testimony. A testimony that, today, is in particular an urgent invitation to the European Union not to "push logic - and cynicism - a step further", in Libya for example. They are also letters that appeal to the humanity of Europeans, particularly in the light of this incipit taken from Berthold Brecht's Dialogues of Exiles of 1941: "The passport is the most noble part of man. Moreover, a passport is not made as simply as a man. A man can be made anywhere, in the most foolish manner in the world and without reasonable cause; a passport, never. Thus, the value of a good passport is recognised, while the value of a man, however great, is not necessarily recognised. Also noteworthy is the graphic creation of François de Coninck who, adorning the cover, calls for an increase in the humanity of the European Union by declaring the domain name ".EU" as ".EU(x)". (MT)
*** MARY ANAGNOU: European citizenship in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The requirements and challenges of an expanding classroom. Papazisi Publishing (2 Nikitara Street, GR-10678 Athens. Tel.: (30-210) 3822496 - fax: 3809020 - E-mail papazisi@otenet.gr- Internet http://www.papazisi.gr ). 2018, 328 pp., 20 €. ISBN 978-960-02-3427-5.
European citizenship gives additional rights to citizens of the Member States of the European Union; the same applies to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, which extends rights to European citizens and non-Member State nationals. These are two fundamental areas which, beyond their initial differences, contribute to the development of European integration. The purpose of this study by Pr. Mary Anagnou (sociology at the Panteion University of Athens) is to see how to bring them together by placing European citizenship within the Space, analysing the acquis, policies and case law taking into account the impact of current developments and challenges (economy, politics for refugees/migrants, security crisis, Brexit...) in these areas. In other words, by following a progressive linking approach of these two fields, the author tries to answer pressing and topical questions such as why Space is important for understanding European citizenship and its evolution? How does the formation of such an Area affect the development of European citizenship? Are European citizenship rights developed for non-Member State nationals? How are the rights of European citizenship enjoyed by non-Member State nationals affected by the crisis that has hit the Union over the past decade? In the end, asks Mary Anagnou, do the rights of European citizenship for non-Member State nationals converge or diverge in this context? It should be noted that a selective bibliography, both Greek and foreign, is included in the book. (AKa)