SoftEn - Soft Enforcement of EU Migration Law

About SoftEn - Soft Enforcement of EU Migration Law

SoftEn is hosted by the Maastricht Centre for European Law at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. The project has received the financial support of a European Research Council Starting Grant.

Despite the EU’s sophisticated migration framework, uneven implementation and rights violations remain widespread. Traditional methods, like infringement procedures, have reached their limits.

In response, the EU increasingly relies on soft enforcement: an emerging mode of ensuring compliance through steering, supervision, and non-judicial accountability. Rather than using sanctions, EU institutions, agencies, and Member States collaborate through peer reviews, evaluations, and mutual learning. This provides a flexible, politically viable means to strengthen governance, though questions remain regarding its legal design and impact.

Examples include the Schengen evaluation mechanism, monitoring by the EU Agency for Asylum, and the strategic use of EU funding. Despite their growing importance, these processes are under-theorised and understudied. The SoftEn (Soft Enforcement of EU Migration Law) project aims to change this. By combining socio-legal analysis with empirical research, SoftEn opens the 'black box' of enforcement to ensure these developments strengthen accountability and safeguard fundamental rights.

Address

• Headquarters

  Bouillonstraat6211LH MaastrichtLimburg, Netherlands

Team by function

Based on 1 public job profiles as of 16 July 2026.

• Administrative / Office1