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This year brings many election processes across Europe. The agenda of many includes internal affairs, and they also relate to a significant extent to migratory flows that are still present on European soil.

International Centre for Migration Policy Development reports that Euroskepticism is widespread among the French electorate and the majority of candidates, and it is linked to a tougher stance on immigration and a desire to return power to the Member States from the EU. The elections will also have an impact on the implementation of the French Presidency’s migration plan. The program focuses on reforming the Schengen Area as well as continuing to work on asylum and migration issues. It emphasizes the importance of addressing migration’s instrumentalization and preventing irregular migratory flows within the Schengen Area.

The same report claims that there will be twelve migration issues to look during the 2022. Those are the rise in irregular migration to the EU, shifting pressures on the main migration routes, the migration effects on the Taliban takeover, growing tensions in Libya, then the flaring up of the Syrian conflict, the reorientation of migration flows from Latin America, the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migration, the EU response to the instrumentalisation of irregular migrants, the presidential elections in France and the French Presidency of the EU, new accents in Germany’s migration policy, Renewed attempts to address secondary movements, and labour shortages and the discussion on legal migration channels.

According to the report, the presidential elections in France will receive the most attention. Euroskepticism is widespread among the French electorate and the majority of candidates, and it is linked to a tougher stance on immigration and a desire to return power to the Member States from the EU. The elections will also have an impact on the implementation of the French Presidency’s migration plan. The program focuses on reforming the Schengen Area as well as continuing to work on asylum and migration issues. It emphasizes the importance of addressing migration’s instrumentalization and preventing irregular migratory flows within the Schengen Area.

The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union’s Programme, titled “Recovery, Strength, and a Sense of Belonging”, commits to continuing work on the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact. It focuses on two areas in the field of migration: Schengen reform and the continuation of the work on asylum and migration. The Schengen Area reform should aim to improve the EU’s external border protection mechanisms, provide solutions to the instrumentalization of migration by (certain) third countries, and prevent irregular migrant flows within the Schengen Area. It is also heavily influenced by the cooperation with Germany. However, last year’s elections will have an impact on the European migration policy agenda in 2022. The coalition agreement for the new German government includes a chapter on integration, migration, and flight. It demands that Germany’s migration and integration policies be relaunched in order to reflect the country’s modern immigration policy.

Several reform goals for domestic residency law, integration policy, and the asylum system are included in this chapter. The coalition agreement calls for a strengthening of functioning partnership agreements with non-EU countries that take a holistic approach and include economic cooperation, strengthening of migration governance capacities, visa facilitation, skills transfers, job platforms, and cooperation on the reintegration of rejected asylum seekers under the heading “European and international refugee policy”.

Written by:Nenad Stekić