The external dimension of the European Union's immigration policy and its implications for transit countries: A comparison of Turkey and Morocco

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: AYSELİN GÖZDE YILDIZ

Danışman: YAKUP ATİLA ERALP

Özet:

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the external dimension of the European Union’s (EU) immigration policy and its implications for transit countries through a comparative study of Turkey and Morocco. The thesis examines the development and institutionalization of the EU’s externalization of its immigration policy within a chronological and theoretical context. Applying the theoretical debate concerning “Europeanization beyond EU borders”, it investigates to what extent the EU has successfully externalised its immigration policy to non-EU members, and what kind of intended and unintended impacts this has had on these countries. The thesis tries to explore both the successes and limits of the Europeanization of Turkey’s and Morocco’s domestic immigration policies by benchmarking progress in the harmonization of legal contexts, border management, visa policies, readmission agreements and asylum policies in each case. This study reaches similar conclusions concerning Turkey, as a candidate country within the EU’s enlargement policy, and Morocco, as a country without membership prospect within the European Neighbourhood Policy, not only in terms of conceptualizing the EU’s externalization of its immigration policy, but also for understanding the negative externalities it creates for transit countries which also limit further policy expansion.