Access to asylum in times of crises, force majeure and instrumentalization in the EU: Restrictive trends in asylum law and in the case-law

The Regulation on Situations of Crisis, Force Majeure and Instrumentalisation, recently adopted as part of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, has provoked mixed reactions among the international community and the scholarship. The greatest concern shared by commentators refers to the derogations allowed by the Regulation, which seem to prioritize the security prerogatives of the Member States over the respect for the fundamental rights of migrants, resulting in the risk of severely compressing, inter alia, the right to asylum and to access the asylum procedure. This turn of the screw is part of an established trend at both the European and national levels to adopt restrictive migration policies. But what role is European case law playing in ensuring access to asylum? Has the interpretation of the standards set to protect this right by the European Court of Human Rights and the EU Court of Justice been an obstacle or a justification for the most problematic measures contained in the Regulation?