PhD student: Mrs P.E.K. El-Khoury

Promotor: Dr A.P. van der Mei

Duration: 1/9/2025 - 31/8/2029

Abstract:

The SoftEn project introduces soft enforcement of EU migration law as a new interdisciplinary research field combining legal and political science perspectives. It addresses the limitations of traditional enforcement methods, such as infringement proceedings by the European Commission, by exploring flexible, politically acceptable alternatives like Fundamental Rights Offices within EU migration agencies and Schengen peer review mechanisms. The project aims to conceptualize soft enforcement and analyze how it operates in practice, integrating governance, accountability, and enforcement theories with qualitative empirical research. It will produce an interdisciplinary theory of soft enforcement, grounded in legal analysis and informed by political science, to better understand the evolving EU migration landscape. Additionally, SoftEn will generate comprehensive datasets on policy steering, supervision, and accountability across EU migration policies, going beyond formal legal texts to capture real-world practices.

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