Conference Agenda

The 2024 EU Pact on Migration and Asylum addresses the growing pressures from increasing migration flows driven by factors such as armed conflicts, environmental changes, and economic disparities. The significant influx of migrants and refugees has put immense strain on the EU’s fragmented asylum and migration policies, prompting the 2024 reform. This reform introduces a “comprehensive approach” that includes “external components” “non-entry diction,” and the concept of “instrumentalization,” among others.

Despite evidence that externalization policies do not provide a sustainable solution, EU institutions and national governments persist in developing these strategies to tackle the political and legal challenges posed by rising anti-refugee sentiment, the rise of right-wing populist parties, and the decline of social cohesion across Europe. However, it remains uncertain whether the securitization and externalization reforms will effectively address the structural weaknesses and inherent inequalities within the EU’s asylum system, which have undermined its effectiveness and fairness. What is evident is that the new EU asylum and migration law introduces legal innovations that undermine human rights standards, creating procedures and legal mechanisms that may circumvent the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The distinction between migrants and refugees appears to be blurred in this new legislation, ostensibly to ensure the securitization of the EU’s external borders. As control over asylum decisions increasingly shifts to external entities, accountability becomes diluted, obscuring responsibility in instances of human rights abuses.

Many immigrants decide to start businesses as a response to barriers in the labor market, as a means of integration, or to take advantage of available opportunities. For many, entrepreneurship is seen as a way to bypass challenges such as language barriers, lack of recognition of foreign qualifications, or discrimination. Immigrant entrepreneurs often utilize their knowledge and the information flow between their host country and country of origin to identify opportunities. This flow allows them to spot market gaps and offer products or services that cater to both the general population and fellow immigrants, who may share cultural preferences or specific needs. Academic literature on immigrant entrepreneurship highlights two opposing perspectives: one suggests that immigrant entrepreneurs innovate more than locals, bringing fresh ideas into the market. The other argues they are more likely to adapt to local practices, responding to the specific demands of the immigrant community, often through ethnic markets where their cultural and linguistic knowledge offers a competitive advantage. To explore this further, a study using data from 108 immigrant entrepreneurs in the Food and Beverage sector of the Eastern Canary Islands (Spain) analyzes the level of innovation in their firms and the influence of innovation on their success. The findings help shed light on the dynamics of immigrant entrepreneurship, revealing whether these entrepreneurs drive innovation or primarily engage in market adaptation to serve their community’s needs. This understanding can inform policies that support immigrant business development and integration.

This project investigates whether it is possible to identify and define a network of information dissemination related to migration policy in the European Union. It constitutes the first stage of a broader research agenda examining the relationship between public opinion and policy-making.

The core objective is to explore the structure of the information network: Who or what are the key actors (nodes) in the dissemination of policy-related information? How are these actors—such as media outlets, political institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals—connected? What sources and types of data can be used to trace these connections, and what methodological approaches are appropriate for analysing them?

Using social network analysis, the project seeks to identify potential hubs and patterns in the communication of migration policy narratives. Rather than assuming a clearly defined structure, the study begins with the question of whether such a network can be meaningfully delineated in the first place. This includes exploring ways to represent and weight connections, measure centrality, and describe the overall shape and density of the network.

By grounding the analysis in empirical data and methodological rigor, this initial phase aims to lay the foundation for understanding how information flows may influence public opinion on migration, and how such flows could shape, or be shaped by, policy-making processes in the EU context.

– Mobility represents one of the primary assets of an individual, being instrumental to the enjoyment of other fundamental legal rights, such as the right to personal freedom and health. As such, mobility must be fully guaranteed by the State in view of its essential social function. European and international institutions, as well as legislative frameworks, acknowledge this principle and are increasingly promoting initiatives to enable mobility to become an instrument of true accessibility. Within this context, special attention is paid to individuals in a situation of vulnerability, such as persons with disabilities and the elderly, so as to ensure that they, too, can participate fully and effectively in the life of the community.�