Will migration spell the end of Europe?

Mon 6 June 2016

Hughes Hall

“Will Migration spell the end of Europe? “

Monday 6 June 2016, 5:00 for 5:15 pm

Pavilion Room, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge

The European Union is in a profound quandary, certainly the deepest since it was founded at the beginning of the 1950s: Within the last few years, the EU has been confronted with two major emergencies: the first has been the sovereign debt crisis in the south (Euro-crisis), which remains ‘critical but stable’ as Greece struggles to regain its financial composure.

The other, and arguably more acute quandary, is the influx of migrants into Europe

This lecture intends to present an understandable overview of migration crisis, attempting to present the problem from a variety of angles. At the same time, it will follow with detailed scrutiny of a number of selected questions, to assist in the approach of the phenomenon in its general social, economic and legal context:

- What is the outcome of a longer-term cost-benefit analysis of immigration?
- Why some European countries are vehemently against immigrants and others purport to welcome them?
- To what extent is migration control a viable concept?
- Are economic factors a valid ethical reason for endorsing the arrival of ‘uninvited’ migrants ?
- How will a potential exit of Britain from the EU influence immigration in the UK and the rest of Europe?
- To what extent migration will influence the outcome of the 'Brexit' referendum?
- What could be the real reasons behind the apparent mass population movements in the last two decades?

The speaker’s main assertions to be presented in this public lecture are:

* migration represents a graver long-term challenge for the viability of Europe than the financial crisis
* the recent refugee influx has served to confound the parameters of the real issues in the migration debate
* a ‘European immigration policy’ is both undesirable and ultimately unfeasible
* mass population movements historically correlate with deteriorating social vigour and the existence of power vacuums in the recipient countries


Demetrius A. M .-A. Floudas is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall, a Fellow of the Hellenic Institute of Foreign and International Law and an Adjunct Professor at the Law Faculty of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Russia. He has lectured and commented extensively on matters of migration in Europe for the past decade, with his views frequently appearing on the media. He recently advised one of the two major Greek political parties on the elaboration and updating of its immigration policy. Demetrius Floudas is the author of ‘Greek Immigration Policy 2011-2020, Forum for Greece, Athens, 2011’.

Cost: Free