Mechanisms of Accountability in the Application of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

ongoing

MAC-EUPACT addresses EU studies about the different accountability mechanisms that can be employed to ensure respect for the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers. The EU legal framework has been thoroughly reformed with the adoption of the new Pact (May 2024). However, as this will only be fully applicable from June 2026, examining how the EU institutions and Member States will implement the new provisions is essential. The proposed key to reviewing the Pact is related to the accountability mechanisms that can be used to protect the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Accountability is linked to the power of the actors entrusted with the exercise of public authority. Power entails accountability, i.e. the duty to account for its exercise. The instruments of accountability to be examined are manifold: judicial, extrajudicial, financial, and social. MAC-EUPACT aims to develop a 36hrs module each year on the institutional aspects necessary to understand the functioning of the different accountability mechanisms studied. The module is complemented by seminars on specific topics related to the new Pact, which last an additional 24/26hrs yearly. A final Conference will be organised. MAC-EUPACT has 3 objectives: 1. Educating future leaders (lawyers, judges, policymakers) on the reformed EU migration and asylum policy framework, on its implementation and on the benefits that different accountability mechanisms can have in improving the protection of migrants and asylum seekers’ rights; 2. Informing stakeholders (policymakers, government officials, border guards and police officers, judges, members of territorial asylum commissions, NGOs, the civil society, the media); 3. Initiating a dialogue with EU and national policymakers to identify critical aspects of the new Pact and propose new solutions to further reforms. Expected outcomes include the publication of briefs and papers that will shape research and policy in this area in the coming years.