Moritz Jesse on migration and peace in post-war Europe
Dr Moritz Jesse (Associate Professor at the Department of European Law) was invited to present a lecture on the role of migration on peace and stability in post-war Europe at a masterclass for students and staff at the Catholic University of Lille, France. The talk, which bore the title ‘People’s mobility as vector of peace: EU internal and external migration’, reflected on the role of free-movement rights as part of the EU integration process on the stability and welfare of the European Continent after the Second World War.
The lecture focussed on the (long-term) benefits of truly permeable borders between EU Member States for receiving as well as sending societies, but also highlighted that potential abuse of free-movement rights is a problem that must be tackled. The lecture emphasised that free movement is one of the few tangible benefits and challenges of European Integration for ‘common’ EU Citizens. In this line of reasoning, the lecture also criticised that there are no free-movement rights for legally resident third-country nationals to move, reside and work in another Member State.
The lecture was part of the masterclass Global Actors for Peace – Reassessing Europe’s Ambition, which took place in September in Lille.