Externalising the Common European Asylum System? Enlargement, legal harmonisation, and capacity building along the Balkan Route

This chapter sets out the broader institutional and legal context in which the Balkan Route takes shape, focusing specifically on asylum. Drawing upon legal acts, policy documents, and institutional and non-governmental reports, it explores national asylum systems in the region and identifies key trends and processes affecting asylum politics along the Balkan Route. Three issues are particularly relevant for the overall configuration of this migration route: firstly, the influence in terms of law-making and policy-making that is exerted by the European Union (EU) on non-EU countries through the Enlargement Policy; secondly, the increasing involvement of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) in the Balkans, aiming to align national asylum systems with EU standards; thirdly, the main features and challenges of respective reception systems. Overall, the chapter exposes the extent to which asylum politics along the Balkan Route is increasingly shaped by the EU asylum acquis and EU interests.