Is Switzerland an EU Member State? Asylum Law Harmonization through the Backdoor

Abstract

The EU has undeniably set the rules of the asylum game in Europe so that the Swiss free rider position has become increasingly untenable. Both its inner geographical location and its fear of secondary movements of asylum-seekers prompted a first step towards the Common European Asylum System: the Dublin Association Agreement. What the Swiss Confederation perhaps did not contemplate is that this first step has set the pace for further EU integration. This dynamic of harmonization is notably illustrated by the influence of the Qualification Directive over the Swiss asylum jurisprudence. Such a process of convergence inevitably begs the question whether Switzerland is not becoming an EU Member State for the purpose of asylum.

Keywords: Switzerland, European Union, Dublin regulation, asylum law, refugee law, Schengen, common European asylum system, bilateral agreement, refugee definition, qualification directive