Jean Monnet EU Migration Law and Governance Lecture Series 

This freely accessible, hybrid, 3-year Jean Monnet lecture series (2024-2026) will feature scholars working on (areas connected with) migration law and governance from interdisciplinary and/or critical perspectives, as well as relevant policy-makers, civil society, and societal actors.

A number of lectures and debates provide insights to current legal and policy developments at EU level, such as the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. The series also features contributions on the interaction of EU migration law with international refugee, migration, statelessness, and human rights law. Finally, other talks provide novel conceptual insights to the study of migration, such as decolonial or interdisciplinary approaches.

The lecture series is convened by Dr. Lilian Tsourdi as part of the Jean Monnet Chair on EU Migration Law and Governance she holds at the Faculty of Law. The series is organised in cooperation with the research centers and groups MCEL, MACIMIDE and Glaw-NET. 

We cordially invite you to the upcoming lecture of the Jean Monnet EU Migration Law and Governance Lecture Series. All lectures are followed by drinks.

Upcoming events will be added here
 

Past events in 2026

May 7, 2026

• "Valence nativism and the construction of EU migration law" by Ariadna Ripoll Servent, Professor for Politics of the European Union at the department of Political Science at the Salzburg University and Academic Director of the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies (SCEUS).  

  
  
  Abstract: Supranational EU institutions in the Area of Freeedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) were long seen as liberal constraints to restrictive domestic migration laws. Supranationalism was hence associated with migrant-friendly positions and the respect of human rights. However, the construction of a common EU legal framework on migration has led to a system focused on preventing the entry of migrants and fostering their return. This evolution reflects a growing consensus on the undesirability of migration. 

   

  W

  ith populist parties becoming stronger at the domestic level, nativist ideas have become normalised and mainstreamed. Hence, nativism has become a valence issue shared not only by intergovernmental actors but also supranational ones. The prevalence of valence nativism renders previous debates on the supranational and intergovernmental nature of EU migration law void, since all policy-making actors share a hegemonic understanding of the problem. This leads to emphasising operational and technical solutions rather than political ones. Hence, even if EU migration is being integrated, we need to ask: which law is being integrated and what does integration actually mean? The aim is to examine to what extent nativist ideas have become mainstream, particularly since the 2024 EP elections, and how this affects debates on the extent and type of integration in EU migration law. 
  The discussant to the talk is Dr. Marguerite Arnoux Bellavitis (Salzburg University & University of Palermo).