MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE OF THE EU MIGRATION POLICY

The article deals with the EU migration policy regulation on several levels: supranational, national and subnational. Using the concepts of multilevel governance and europeanisation, the author analyses the overlapping competencies, as well as the contradictions arising among the actors involved in the process at different levels. The evolution of migration and asylum policies is traced, and it is shown that the Lisbon Treaty has greatly contributed to the europeanisation of the EU migration policies. The instruments of europeanisation - the European Funds that support migration and asylum, as well as the agencies - are analysed; the author argues that the migration crisis has contributed to increasing the agencies' role, and, consequently, has advanced the europeanisation of migration and asylum. Special attention is paid to the interaction between the national and regional levels of migration management, which is not always harmonized. It is stressed that regions and cities, without formal competencies in asylum and citizenship, have to implement decisions authorized at national and supranational levels. In conclusion, the author states that the different interests of actors at various levels, as well as the lack of a multilevel migration governance strategy in the EU, have been one of the main causes of the migration crisis.