TARN Blog

The European Union (EU) and Turkey have a long and multifaceted relationship. In this entry (based on a recent longer analysis) we focus on Turkey’s involvement with the EU’s decentralised agencies, and more particularly on whether and to what extent this involvement can be viewed as a part of a differentiated integration approach for the largest candidate for EU membership.

The Boards of Appeal established for the decision-making agencies perform a function that lies between exercising administrative review, at the one end, and offering judicial review, at the other. It is still unclear in which direction they will ultimately move, and more research in this fast-developing area of EU administrative law is needed.

by Trym Nohr Fjørtoft

In 2015, many European states experienced a massive influx of migrants and refugees seeking protection within their borders. The European Refugee crisis was a crisis in many respects—first and foremost for the people forced to flee their homes, but also for the institution tasked with managing the EU’s external borders. That institution is Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

EU agencies are now at the forefront of policy implementation in EU’s migration, asylum and external border control policies for two primary reasons: to overcome the policy implementation gap and enhance interstate solidarity.

When the three main institutions adopted the Common Approach on EU Decentralised Agencies in 2012 one of the few innovative elements in this otherwise disappointing non-binding interinstitutional agreement were the provisions dedicated to the selection of the seat of EU agencies. As many EU-watchers will know, one of the characteristic features of EU Decentralised Agencies is that they are not located in Brussels but that they are instead spread over the entire territory of the EU.