The Governance of Migration in the European Union: Law, Politics, and the Emergence of ‘Formal Informality’ (Oxford Studies in European Law)

Migration sits at the top of the European Union's domestic and foreign policy agenda.Once a latecomer within the EU's set of competences, migration has become subject to an increasingly complex and contested set of institutional arrangements and processes, as the EU and its Member States grapple with the characterisation of irregular migration as a 'crisis'. The Governance of Migration in the European Union: Law, Politics, and the Emergence of 'Formal Informality' examines the evolution of EU migration governance, encompassing both regular and irregular forms of migration, and highlights key differences between this field and broader patterns of EU integration.Drawing on institutional and constructivist theories, the book offers a critical analysis of the growing reliance on informal tools and instruments that play an increasingly significant role in contemporary migration governance, despite falling outside traditional legal mechanisms. Paul James Cardwell explores the diversity of th