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Publishers Abstract:
There is much confusion among EU experts about the legal status of third-country nationals. This is hardly surprising, since this uncertainty reflects conceptual tensions at the heart of the European project. This article identifies underlying motives and resolves the puzzle by proposing a positive constitutional rationale for the substantive rules of European migration policy. The focus on the constitutional dimension of EU migration law has tangible advantages. Instead of concentrating on the specificities of individual directives, which often raise formidable dogmatic questions of great practical importance, the constitutional analysis identifies overarching themes. Any attempt to identify the constitutional rationale of EU migration law must consider the free movement of EU citizens, which serves as a powerful paradigm for European rules on cross-border movements. Although border controls, immigration and asylum have become a central field of EU activity in recent years, considerable confusion persists -- among both academics and practitioners -- about the underlying object and purpose of migration law towards third-country nationals.
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