Date of Thesis
Spring 2022
Description
This study explores whether the best practices of refugee integration policies, as supported by scholars, are present in the European Union (EU) and some of its Member States between 2014 and 2021, accounting for the responses of these governments to the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe. In addition, it seeks to reveal the likelihood of future collective governance of refugee integration at the EU level. It claims that there are four central benchmarks to examine the strength of a country’s refugee integration plans as well as two integration theories to consider the possibility of deeper EU decision-making on a policy area.
As an illustration of how this significant policy area manifests itself in the EU, this study offers three case studies of Swedish, Italian, and Hungarian refugee integration policies and domestic politics in addition to refugee integration strategies supported by the EU as well as the politics surrounding this policy area at the supranational level. This study utilizes a variety of primary and secondary sources, including legislation, policy summaries, government agency websites, voting data, opinion polls, various interest group and political party websites, and nonprofit reports, to arrive at its conclusions. Ultimately, this study suggests that there are wide divergences in the refugee integration policies supported by these European governments. Furthermore, it concludes that future EU integration and Europeanization of refugee integration strategies is unlikely to occur in the short-term if policies remain consistent. In the end, the study provides suggestions for opportunities for future research in refugee integration policy in the EU that build upon the conclusions of this study.
Keywords
European Union, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Refugees, Integration
Access Type
Honors Thesis
Degree Type
Bachelor of Arts
Major
International Relations
Second Major
Languages, Cultures & Linguistics
Minor, Emphasis, or Concentration
Economics
First Advisor
Emek Uçarer
Second Advisor
Lisa Perrone
Third Advisor
Alia Stanciu
Recommended Citation
Ferrara, Giuliana, "Integration for Integration?: The implications of varying refugee integration strategies on future European Union integration" (2022). Honors Theses. 601.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/601
Included in
European Languages and Societies Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, International Relations Commons