TRANSMIC panel at the 2015 UACES Annual Conference
September 17th, 2015 by Niels
As every year, the UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) Annual Conference in Bilbao drew a large number of participants from across all disciplines of EU studies. The conference took place from 7-9 September 2015 and included various panels covering every possible area of EU law and policy. This year, CEPS organised a panel bringing together three TRANSMIC fellows focusing specifically on their research area: the external dimension of EU Home Affairs policies. The panel was chaired by Dr. Sergio Carrera of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and Maastricht University, who is also a PhD and postdoc supervisor within the TRANSMIC network. The panel consisted of Leonhard den Hertog (CEPS, Maastricht University) speaking about funding dynamics in the EU’s external migration policy, Fanny Tittel-Mosser (University of Minho) speaking about the implementation of Mobility Partnerships, and Zvezda Vankova (Maastricht University) speaking about the concept of circular migration. In addition, a colleague from CEPS, Guillaume Van Der Loo, joined to present his work on the treatment of workers in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. With these four presentations, an excellent overview of the intersection between EU external relations and home affairs policies was offered. The panel discussion identified many links between these presentations, such as the EU’s tendency to limit mobility rights, across funding priorities, mobility partnerships and association agreements. The interaction with the audience was lively, with many useful questions and remarks being raised. The ensuing discussions showed that the contested legal competences and institutional struggles are key to understanding why we see the emergence of soft law and experimental governance strategies in this field. The panel offered an excellent opportunity for the fellows to share their interim research results with an academic audience at an international conference. Moreover, the conference provided for a lively exchange of research on citizenship, migration and rights, therefore linking closely with the TRANSMIC objectives.
