Enrico Fassi

Bio: Enrico Fassi is an academic researcher from The Catholic University of America. The author has contributed to research in topics: European union & Economic Justice. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 9 publications receiving 54 citations. Previous affiliations of Enrico Fassi include University of Bologna.

The European Migration System and Global Justice. A First Appraisal

Abstract: The large inflow of migrants to Europe over the last two years has made the refugees and migrants issue a focal point of the current political debate. The strain on the Dublin System and the blatant inconsistencies of the European approach to migration have served as a ‘wake up call’, bringing to the fore the need to overhaul the EU’s role in the governance of this policy area, riddled with tensions between Member States. Some Member States have accused the European Union (EU) of imposing regulations that affect them negatively; on the other hand, the EU has accused countries such as Italy and Greece of failing to comply with the existent rules. Inter-state solidarity has frequently been lacking, and violations of human rights with respect to the migrants have been documented. Moreover, the migration crisis has disclosed a number of normative and ethical issues connected to the current management of migration in the EU: to what extent can such a system be reasonably deemed just? Just for whom? Does the European management of migration live up to the principles of global justice? Following the objective of establishing to what extent the EU’s approach to migration has become decoupled from the question of justice, the book collects the first results of an analysis the definitions and legal provisions regarding migration and asylum in different member states (Italy, France, UK and Germany), one EU associated country (Norway) and the EU as such. The text introduces the concept of EU Migration System of Governance (EUMSG) to describe the different levels of government involved in partially cooperative and partially conflicting relations between the EU and the MSs, against the simplistic view of mutually exclusive or hierarchically ordered relations.

The EU Migration System and Global Justice: An Assessment

Abstract: The response of the European Union Migration System of Governance (EUMSG) to the so-called migration crisis of 2015–2016 has been characterized by three main outcomes: paralysis, bordering and externalization. Though not new to the functioning of the EUMSG, such practices have been reinforced and stabilized due to the system’s peculiar form of governance. Leader states, frontliners and peripheral countries have all contributed not only to the substantive governance of the system, but also to a shift towards a Westphalian understanding of justice which gives priority to state sovereignty over the protection of human and specific needs. Trapped between the EU level, national and human rights concerns, the EU and state actors in the system have produced results which have been detrimental to the EU’s international credibility as a rights-based global actor.

The European Endowment for Democracy and Democracy Promotion in the EU Neighbourhood

Abstract: The European Endowment for Democracy (EED) is a recently established instrument of democracy promotion intended to complement existing EU tools. Fashioned after the US National Endowment for Democracy, the EED’s privileged area of action is the European neighbourhood. Meant as a small rapid-response, actor-oriented ‘niche’ initiative, its main task is to select those actors, from both civil and political society able to produce a change in their country. The EED represents a step forward in the EU’s capacity to foster democracy, but does not necessarily go in the direction of more rationality and effectiveness. Not all EU member states support the EED with the same enthusiasm and it is still not clear how it fits into the EU’s overall democracy promotion architecture. Its actions may be successful in a very constrained timeframe. However, recent crises at the EU’s borders would seem to call for a strategy that takes into consideration systemic hindrances, post-regime change complexities, regional dynamics...

What NATO, for What Threats? Warsaw and Beyond

Abstract: This publication is the result of the Conference ““What NATO for what threats? Warsaw and Beyond”, organized by NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT), the University of Bologna and Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) of Rome. The Conference was the fourth iteration of ACT’s Academic Conference series, and it took place at the Centro Residenziale Universitario of the University of Bologna in Bertinoro (Italy), from the 4th to the 6th of October 2015. The success of the event was due to the joint efforts of the three institutions, and particularly of LTC Alfonso Alvarez and CDR Matteo Minelli of the ACT’s Academic Outreach Team; Michela Ceccorulli, Enrico Fassi and Sonia Lucarelli of the University of Bologna; and Alessandro Marrone and Anna Gaone of the Institute of International Affairs. Special thanks go also to Federico Casprini (FCAC) for his valuable advice.

Europe's “depopul-ageing” bomb?

Abstract: For a long time International Relations did not pay much attention to population studies and it took the end of the Cold War to find new attention to global phenomena even included global demographic trends and their implications. Yet such an attention is still limited in academia and fails to find its place in the pages of many leading reviews of the discipline. This is rather surprising given the relevance of demographic trends on the overall future of international politics. The aim of this article is to contribute to the recent literature that shows the relevance of demographic trends for international politics. In particular, the article aims to shed light on two main issues likely to have a major impact on Europe: population growth and ageing. If these phenomena can be considered as global trends, in Europe they compound themselves to depict a particularly worrying scenario for the future. As a matter of fact, while all world regions will experience significant ageing of their populations, the effec...

A Theory of Freedom.

Abstract: Foreword Miriam Benn and Gerald F. Gaus Preface Acknowledgments 1. persons and values 2. Practical rationality and commitment 3. Reasons in conflict: quandaries and consistency 4. Values and objectivity 5. natural personality and moral personality 6. The principle of respect for persons 7. Freedom of action 8. Freedom as autarchy 9. Autonomy, and positive freedom 10. Autonomy, integration, and self-development 11. Self-realization, instinctual freedom, and autonomy 12. Autonomy, association, and community 13. Human rights and moral responsibility 15. Interests in privacy 16. Conclusion: a semantic theory of freedom Notes Index.

Migration and the EU Global Strategy: Narratives and Dilemmas

Abstract: Migration did not figure in the European Security Strategy of 2003. Never mentioned as a threat, it was not even mentioned as a risk. Thirteen years later, migration is widely cited in the new European Union Global Strategy. Much richer than the previous security document and global in aspiration, the Global Strategy treats migration as a challenge and an opportunity, recognising the key role it plays in a rapidly changing security landscape. However, this multi-faceted perspective on migration uncovers starkly different political and normative claims, all of which are legitimate in principle. The different narratives on migration present in the new strategic document attest to the Union’s comprehensive approach to the issue but also to critical and possibly competing normative dilemmas.

Talking Migration: Narratives of Migration and Justice Claims in the European Migration System of Governance

Abstract: In the last few years, migration has been at the centre of attention of the European public and policymakers, sparking an unprecedented debate on responsibilities and rights. This Special Issue pre...

The EU Migration System and Global Justice: An Introduction

Abstract: The so-called migration crisis of 2015 and the policies undertaken in Europe thereafter have posed a number of normative and ethical issues: to what extent can the policies used to cope with the phenomenon be reasonably deemed ‘just’? Just for whom? Does the EU’s management of migration live up to the principles of global justice? And which understanding of global justice? Ultimately, what are the political and normative implications for the EU which has long been described as a sui generis polity? This introduction sets the stage for this analysis, clarifying the characteristics of what can be labelled as the EU Migration System of Governance, and spelling out three main understandings of global justice, each with its own justice claims and policy prescriptions. The current role of the EU in the management of migration, it is here claimed, is the result of the compounded nature of the system of governance and of the friction among competing justice claims. The compass to navigate such uncharted ethical waters can only be found in the coherent respect for human rights.