Migration Policy of the EU Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Convergence or Distancing?

Abstract

This paper examines certain aspects of the migration policy of the EU countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has affected all areas of society, including a massive decline in population mobility in all countries of the world. The purpose of this work is to analyze the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for EU countries in the field of internal and international migration and the implementation of migration policy. The study is based on official data from Eurostat, the International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization, analytical reports and legal documents of the European Union as a whole, as well as individual states. The work uses analytical and comparative methods. As part of the analytical method, an analysis was made of some legal documents in the field of migration policy aimed at reducing the risks of the spread of coronavirus infection, social and legal support for certain categories of foreign citizens living in the EU countries. The comparative method made it possible to compare the tools and mechanisms for implementing individual migration policy measures during the pandemic in a number of EU countries and identify the most successful practices. Our research has shown that, on the one hand, a number of measures taken at the EU level have proved to be effective in restoring mobility and ensuring movement within the EU without restrictions. On the other hand, EU member states had fairly broad powers in matters of independent regulation of migration within their own country, focusing primarily on national interests. The results obtained in the work can be further used, firstly, for effective tools for managing migration in the event of global shocks, and secondly, for the purpose of a deeper study of the possibilities and limitations of the implementation of migration policy by states that are members of integration associations.

Key words: Migration policy of the EU countries, COVID-19 pandemic, migration regime, social support for the population and migrants, migration crisis, impact of the pandemic on demographic development.