Germany’s ‘Atypical’ Leadership in the EU Migration System of Governance and its Normative Dimension

The chapter aims at understanding whether the ongoing transformation of the EU Migration System of Governance may be conducive to the fulfilment of the expectations of Member States—Germany included—third states, and EU institutions—with regard to Germany’s ability (or lack thereof) to orient the EU’s identity and conduct as an international actor complying with and advancing global justice (Harnish 2011). To this end, the following section identifies the main trajectories of Germany’s immigration and asylum policy, accounting for the country’s shift from a restrictive to a selectively liberal approach towards voluntary and forced migrations.2 The third section examines the intergovernmentalization of the EUMSG and the allegedly leading role played in it by Germany. The final section examines Germany’s compliance with the above-mentioned justice claims, and whether and how the country’s position within a transforming EUMSG have helped create and behave according to the normative orientations of the EU as an international actor.