The Constellation of Non-governmental Organizations and European Immigration and Asylum Policies: What Actors for What Paths to Europeanization?

In the context of the integration of immigration and asylum policies, associations mobilizing around these issues have gradually become Europeanized along different paths, some from above, privileging cooperation with European institutions, others from below, privileging protest, with some blending both dynamics. This paper explains these various modes of Europeanization and shows that they are determined by the alliance strategies of associative actors as well as by the logics guiding inter-institutional negotiations at the EU level. Moreover, from a comparative perspective, it shows that associations from different national contexts (here, France and Germany) follow similar paths to Europeanization. In doing so, it shows that the rise of EU competences leads to the construction of a diversified European space of mobilization that goes beyond national specificities.