Methodology

AuthorEisele, Katharina
Pages16-16
EPRS | European Parli amentary Re search Servic e
16
4. Methodology
This EPRS Europea n Implementation As sessment is based on two external studies, which are
repr odu ced in f ull in Pa rt II a nd Par t III. B oth stu dies were prepared within a limited time fr ame, from
Janua ry to May 2020.
The first study (Part II) evaluates the impl ementation of the Return D irective in the following ten
Member States : Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Fr ance (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (EL), Italy (IT), the
Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Spain (ES), and Sweden (SE). The key s election criterion was the
importan ce of the quest ion of return, as evidenced by Eurostat data.
The lack of comparable and up-to-date data from the selected Member States represented a major
challenge for the outcom e of this study . Of the ten Member States con tacted, only o ne (Ger many)
completed a questionn aire and informal interviews were held with three other Member States. The
study is based on publications by the European Migration Network (EMN), as well as on Sch engen
Evaluation Reports, publicat ions by the Odyss eus Network (a net work of legal experts in
immig ratio n an d asylu m in Euro pe), the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (F RA ), and
a Coun cil docum ent capturing the Member Stat es' positions on return-related measures. The 2013
European Commission evaluation of the Return Directive provided valuable insight, as well as
stu dies a nd re port of aca demics an d civil so ciety actor s.
Moreover , 18 int erviews were condu cted and two organisations agreed to complete the
questionnaire prepared originally for the Member Stat es. The study took the evalua tion
methodology into a ccount, as described in t he Eu ropean Commiss ion's 2017 B etter Re gulation
Guidelin es.
The second s tudy (Part I II) exami nes the ext ernal dimensi on of the Return D irective. It p ro v ides
an overview and an analys is of the externa lly applicable policy and legal fra mewo rks that
operationalise the return and readmission of irregularly staying third country nationals under the
Retur n Directive.
This second study has been con cluded based on des k resear ch, with reference to primary and
secondary law on migration, asylum and fundamental rights, together with the case law of t h e Cou rt
of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the
Special Repor ts of th e European Court of Audit ors (ECA).
The resear ch conducted includes a mapping of all EURAs, informal agreements, Frontex Working
Arrangements and Status Agr eements, followed by a detailed comparative analysis of the
agreement s within each of thos e three categories.94 This analysis paralleled relevant academic
resear ch. Furthermore, an analysis of the policy and lega l bases of EU ret urn and readmission policy
was undert aken.
Bot h st udies displa y several lim itat ions. These include, inter alia, the limited t imeframe in which the
studies were conducted; the lack of comparable and up-to-date data; the lack of information
provided directly by the Member St ates; and the lack o f public access to documen ts.
This EPRS European Implementation Assessment does not replace a fu lly fledged Eur opean
Commiss ion implementation assessment of th e Return Directive in all Member States, as is required
under Ar ticle 19 of the R eturn Directive.
94 This anal ysis i s contained in Annexes I to III of Part II Study on t he exte rnal dimension of the Return Directive.

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