The Role of Criminal Law in the Enforcement of the EU’s External Border Policy

Border and migration laws generally spell out the conditions of entry and stay of third-country nationals in the jurisdiction of the State, set out rules on border crossing and orchestrate the departure from the State of irregular migrants . They are therefore essentially governed by administrative law. However, both at national and EU level, borders, migration and asylum policies witness significant intersections between criminal and administrative law, in particular when countering irregular migration. With this in mind, the purpose of this research is to examine whether the growing EU integration of the border, migration and asylum policies led to a change in the respective share of administrative and criminal law in the regulation of conducts related to the irregular crossing of EU external borders. More precisely, this research will explore interactions at the EU and national level with regard to the irregular crossings of external borders, carrier sanctions and migrant smuggling.