Pillar 1: “European and International Policy: Europe in a Changing World"
Cordinator: Prof. Matteo Truiffelli
Under Pillar 1, CSEIA undertook study and research activities on topics of European and international relevance according to a multidisciplinary approach which examinedsociological, legal and political aspects. Scientific research focused on current and urgent issues in the international and European scenario, paying specific attention to the role of the European Union as fundamental actor.
Research projects:
1) Research project “Citizenship, Immigration and Security: A European Challenge” (M. Truffelli)
In the last decade, irregular migration flows have attracted growing attention due to the fact that, apart from being occurrences of exceptional tragedy, they feature aspects of considerable complexity, being rooted in political, ethnic, environmental, economic reasons or in a combination of them.
In this context, particular attention has been paid to the theoretical question related to the tight connection that, since centuries ago, the European political thought has established with the concept of security. This connection has also legal relevance, as made evident by those measures that States can adopt individually or collectively, through the coordination of international agencies and the European Union, to monitor and contrast migration flows, especially when irregular.
Against this backdrop, the research project undertook an analysis of the different legal, political, institutional and cultural issues at stake. From a legal point of view, the research focused on the international, European and domestic legal frameworks in the field of both the monitoring and contrasting of migration flows and the protection of human rights of the vulnerable subjects involved; from an historical-political perspective, particular attention was devoted to the development, in the context of the European political thought, of the different matrixes of the concept of citizenship and their relationship with the concept of security. In a sociological perspective, the focus was on the cultural issue of the relationship between citizenship, identity and diversity. Finally, in a policy perspective, the project compared different cultural, social, economic and legal strategies adopted by the European Union and different Member States in order to tackle the phenomenon of migration.
2) Research project: “Modern Threats to Security and New Responses: Cooperation, Responsibility and Human Rights Protection” (E. Carpanelli, N. Lazzerini)
The research activity analysed, from a legal point of view, some issues that the European Union has identified as priorities for its actions in the short and long term (see, in particular, European Agenda on Security, adopted by the European Commission in the first semester of 2015) and that, contextually, pose challenges also for other international actors, in particular the United Nations.
The research activity mainly focused on two thematic areas:
1. New threats and new responses in the field of international terrorism;
2. Risks and benefits deriving from the use of new technologies.
Within each thematic area, particular attention was devoted to the study and analysis of some specific issues, selected on the ground of their complexity, from a legal point of view, and urgent character.
From a content-related point of view, the unity and consistency of the project have been ensured by the focus on three specific perspectives: cooperation, responsibility and human rights protection. At the same time, from a methodological point of view, unity and consistency were ensured by means of a constant dialogue between groups of young scholars, created ad hoc, and experts in the relevant fields.
International law and European Union law have been the main legal frameworks of reference. However, research activities adopting a comparative analysis between two or more legal orders or domestic case studies have also been welcomed any time they acted as starting point for more general considerations. In this respect, the research project could benefit from the inputs of young scholars working in different areas of law. Moreover, the research project could also benefit from the inputs of experts in the areas of sociology and policy.
