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A New Spin on an Old Tale: Tracing Sustainable Migration in EU Legal History

Loxa, Alezini LU orcid (2025) In EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC LAW
Abstract
From 2015 onwards almost every EU migration policy document has the professed objective of shaping a ‘fair, efficient, and sustainable’ migration. But what would a sustainable migration look like in terms of legal design? By focusing on the EU legal order, the article provides an answer to this question. Specifically, the article presents the findings of a critical historical study of different areas of EU migration law from the 1950s to the present with a focus on free movement of workers, Accession Treaties, Association Agreements and the regulation of migration from third countries. By investigating how the economic and social pillars of sustainability, as historically conveyed in the EU primary law objectives of economic growth and... (More)
From 2015 onwards almost every EU migration policy document has the professed objective of shaping a ‘fair, efficient, and sustainable’ migration. But what would a sustainable migration look like in terms of legal design? By focusing on the EU legal order, the article provides an answer to this question. Specifically, the article presents the findings of a critical historical study of different areas of EU migration law from the 1950s to the present with a focus on free movement of workers, Accession Treaties, Association Agreements and the regulation of migration from third countries. By investigating how the economic and social pillars of sustainability, as historically conveyed in the EU primary law objectives of economic growth and social progress, have shaped the rights migrants draw from EU law, the article demonstrates the limitations as well as the latent qualities of the novel objective of sustainable migration. This article provides a concise overview of the main findings of my PhD Thesis, ‘Sustainability and EU Migration Law, What Place for Migrants’ Rights’ defended at Lund University on October 5th 2023 and awarded the 2024 EGPL Thesis prize. The reader is directed to Sustainability and EU migration law, Tracing the History of a Contemporary Concept (CUP 2025) for a detailed account of the relevant historical stud (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
EU law, Public international law, EU-rätt, Folkrätt
in
EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC LAW
ISSN
2310-6514
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a6084775-435d-497b-9cc1-dbf15423e3b8
date added to LUP
2025-09-03 18:09:43
date last changed
2025-09-04 13:42:53
@article{a6084775-435d-497b-9cc1-dbf15423e3b8,
  abstract     = {{From 2015 onwards almost every EU migration policy document has the professed objective of shaping a ‘fair, efficient, and sustainable’ migration. But what would a sustainable migration look like in terms of legal design? By focusing on the EU legal order, the article provides an answer to this question. Specifically, the article presents the findings of a critical historical study of different areas of EU migration law from the 1950s to the present with a focus on free movement of workers, Accession Treaties, Association Agreements and the regulation of migration from third countries. By investigating how the economic and social pillars of sustainability, as historically conveyed in the EU primary law objectives of economic growth and social progress, have shaped the rights migrants draw from EU law, the article demonstrates the limitations as well as the latent qualities of the novel objective of sustainable migration. This article provides a concise overview of the main findings of my PhD Thesis, ‘Sustainability and EU Migration Law, What Place for Migrants’ Rights’ defended at Lund University on October 5th 2023 and awarded the 2024 EGPL Thesis prize. The reader is directed to Sustainability and EU migration law, Tracing the History of a Contemporary Concept (CUP 2025) for a detailed account of the relevant historical stud}},
  author       = {{Loxa, Alezini}},
  issn         = {{2310-6514}},
  keywords     = {{EU law; Public international law; EU-rätt; Folkrätt}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  series       = {{EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC LAW}},
  title        = {{A New Spin on an Old Tale: Tracing Sustainable Migration in EU Legal History}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}