Four implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for the EU’s asylum and migration policy
- The outbreak of Covid-19 has disrupted all strands of EU policy-making. Discussions about the EU’s immediate response to the pandemic focus predominantly on the bloc’s economic recovery. However, mitigating its fallout in other branches of EU policy is equally necessary. The Union’s area of free movements is among the policies most tangibly affected by the pandemic. While national border closures and regional lockdowns impaired EU citizens’ ability to travel, they also had substantial consequences for migrants and asylum seekers.