AN EVER CLOSER UNION? IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM POLICY IN ITALY AND SPAIN: A TALE OF TWO EUROPEANIZATIONS

Abstract

The European Union expanded from its first conceptualization as an economic union hedging possible German expansion to encompass policy areas traditionally controlled by the state. One of these areas—immigration and asylum—is closely associated with ideas of state identity and citizenship, and is an area in which states have been unwilling to cede control. Two member states—Italy and Spain—have many similarities, one of which is significant issues in regard to large and undocumented migration but, despite that, took quite different policy directions vis-à-vis the EU’s proposed immigration and asylum norms. This research examines Italy and Spain using Knill and Lehmkuhl’s mechanisms of Europeanization during three policymaking timeframes in order to determine how and why these states have taken divergent paths. This thesis found that different mechanisms were used during different periods and that counterintuitive to expected findings, the weakest mechanism is dominant during the current era.