The panel focuses on the discussion of the new book by Natascha Zaun (University of Oxford) that analyses the last 15 years of negotiations establishing a Common European Asylum System in the European Union. It sheds light on why cooperation has led to reinforced refugee protection on paper but has failed to provide it in practice. Zaun demonstrates that the strong regulators of North-Western Europe have used their powerful bargaining positions to shape EU asylum policies decisively, which has allowed them to impose their will on Member States in South-Eastern Europe. These latter countries, having barely made a mark on EU policies, are now facing significant difficulties in implementing them www.palgrave.com/de/book/9783319398280.

The research and its findings will be presented by the author. The panel will discuss the book and consider how its findings reflect the current negotiations on the recast of EU asylum policy and EU instruments responding to the refugee crisis.

Chair: Christof Roos, Research Professor, IES, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Panel participants:

• Natascha Zaun, Post-doctoral Researcher, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University
• Phillippe de Bruycker, Professor of European Law, Université Libre de Bruxelles
• Doris Peschke, General Secretary, Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME)
• Pedro Courela, Policy Officer, Council of the European Union

The event will take place at the premises of the Institute for European Studies (IES).