Explaining the evolution of EU migration policies from past to present: Towards an eclectic approach

This study addresses the gradual evolution of the EU migration policies since the end of the Second World War until present. It analyzes migration policy of the EU member states in two periods. The first period starts from the initial attempts until the Amsterdam Treaty. It argues that neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism can better evaluate the evolution of the migration policies in this period. Regarding the second period, this study examines the significant changes beginning with the Treaty of Amsterdam in terms of the authority and the decision-making system through by rational, sociological and historical institutionalist approaches. In the former period, as the member states were reluctant to give their exclusive authority to the Community, the EU institutions played a little role. Thus, migration polices have evolved in a non-binding settlements until the Amsterdam Treaty. Beginning with the late-1990s, however, the member states have increasingly noticed the necessity of cooperation in migration related issues due to the political, economic and cultural developments in the international arena and in the EU itself (such as path-dependency, normative commitments and the deepening process). Although there is cooperation in migration issues, this study argues that national interests are still important; thus the member states keep manoeuvre areas which make the cooperation process more complex. Overall, this study adopts an eclectic approach in which the historical development of migration policy through several European integration theories in two time periods.