Reconciling new concepts of migration and asylum law with human rights standards in contemporary Europe

Abstract

New EU asylum and migration rules will be enforced in 2026, but the new instruments of the Asylum and Migration Pact contain several concepts, already assessed by academics, NGOs and international organisations as controversial in view of human rights law. These concepts need to be explained and unpacked, if the European Commission is to provide clear guidance on implementation and the Member States embark on proper implementation to reach the objectives of the new Pact. The Project aims to evaluate new concepts stemming from recent legislative developments in EU migration and asylum law and its effect on national law of the Member States. The study involves two main components: (1) clarification of selected new concepts, including ‘non-entry fiction’, ‘instrumentalization of migrants’ and ‘external processing of asylum cases’ by revealing its content, mutual correlations, place in international law system, and the extent these new legal concepts could be reconciled with human rights standards; and (2) critical evaluation of recent legislative developments in EU migration law field in the national context using the example of Lithuania by identifying possible gaps and providing guidance for implementation at national level. The proposed study will bridge a gap in doctrine on new