News

After eight years of strenuous negotiations, the European Parliament has given its consent to the seminal reform package. This endpoint of the negotiations is the starting shot for implementation, which might prove the at least as cumbersome. Professor Thym explains practical pitfalls in an interview with WELT TV (‘Die Verfahren sind zu kompliziert und dauern viel zu lange’) with regard to border procedures, secondary movements and return. It is in the self-interest of the EU institutions and…

In a unique line of judgments, the German constitutional court interprets the German constitution to require near-equal treatment of asylum applicants and returnees with German nationals in the domain of core social benefits, while the precise contours of the case law are contested. Professor Thym joins an expert hearing in the Committee for Work and Social Affairs of the German parliament, both with a written statement and orally (in German). His views have also been taken up by newspaper…

Rwanda and Albania are receiving much attention these days, not least in Germany where the government is examining the option of sending asylum applicants to third states. To do so can be compatible with human rights, if several conditions are being fulfilled. At the same time, there are different options of how such a project could be realised – as exemplified by differences between the British ‘Rwanda plan’ and the Italian ‘Albania model’. Professor Thym explains the options and potential…

The German government aims at improving state structures to prevent racism and right-wing extremism. To this end, the InRa Study ‘Institutions & Racism’, funded by the Federal Ministry of Interior, is developing a toolbox of instruments in a project coordinated by Prof. Daniel Thym and Prof. Judith Froese from the University of Konstanz. On 27 February 2024, a workshop will discuss tried-and-tested instruments from administrative practice, identify key problems and gaps and elaborate untapped…

For more than 25 years, dual nationality has been discussed controversially within Germany. Parliament is about to adopt a law that will generally accept it, including in scenarios where I had still been outlawed. Daniel Thym welcomes the shorter time limits for naturalisation but highlights an underlying theoretical tension if dual nationality promotes a post-ethnic conception of nationhood from a German perspective, while perpetuating ethno-cultural belonging with regard to home states. An…