EU responses to the large-scale refugee displacement from Ukraine : an analysis on the temporary protection directive and its implications for the future EU asylum policy

Abstract

This Book examines the European Union’s policy responses to large-scale dis- placement of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and the activation and imple- mentation of the Temporary Protection Directive from interdisciplinary per- spectives. The activation of the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive for the first time in European history to receive nearly 5 million people fleeing the war Ukraine begs the following question: Does it represent a new era or a turn- ing-point in EU asylum policy? The various chapter contributions assess this question by first analysing central issues related to the scope, implementation and debates raised by the Temporary Protection Directive. In particular, various chapters focus on the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive across various European countries, its medium and long-term impacts, as well as ‘lessons learned’ from policies adopted by non-EU states hosting large-scale refugee communities. The Book then studies the extent to which the Tempo- rary Protection Directive represents a game-changer in the wider EU asylum policies by comparing the EU’s temporary protection policy covering Ukrain- ian refugees with the one driving the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and Member States’ asylum policies towards non-European refugees, which put especial emphasis on contained mobility, responsibility shifting and external- isation. This includes an assessment of the relationship and compatibility of EU asylum policies with international and EU rights and principles, with par- ticular attention to those related to non-discrimination, solidarity, and justice.