Lobbying for the Rights of Refugees: An Analysis of the Lobbying Strategies of Pro-migrant Groups on the Qualification Directive and its Recast

Abstract:
At the 1999 Tampere Council Summit, the Heads of the European Union (EU) Member States agreed to create common standards for refugees and persons in need of subsidiary protection by 2012. In 2004, as part of the Common European Asylum System, a first version of the Qualification Directive was adopted.

In its effort to further approximate the rights of refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, the European Commission opened a recast process on the Qualification Directive in 2009.

The negotiations of both directives have been followed actively by pro-migrant groups. Their intensified political involvement and presence in Brussels did not remain unnoticed by political scientists. However, previous studies mainly focused on the analysis of the factors that affect the emergence of such groups and the variety of their missions.

This article, in turn, firstly, identifies those pro-migrant groups active in lobbying on both Qualification Directives; secondly, explores their lobbying strategies; and thirdly, assesses to what extent political opportunity structures affected the lobbying choice of the pro-migrant groups. Analysing the lobbying efforts of the pro-migrant groups on the original Qualification Directive and its post-Lisbon recast allows for an evaluation of whether the groups have benefited from the modified decision-making procedures. The study is based on a documentary analysis of the strategy papers and recommendations of the groups, as well as on 28 in-depth expert interviews with EU officials and interest representatives.