Managing migratory flows in the EU through temporary protection: issues and perspectives in the Ukrainian case

Temporary protection (TP), which first appeared in international discourse in the 1970s as a practical response to large-scale refugee movements, was introduced into the European Union legal order by Directive 2001/55/EC. Since its entry into force, even though some Member States invoked it, the instrument had never been activated, leading some scholars to believe that the law was a dead letter. However, on 4 March 2022, a few days after the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Council of the European Union unanimously decided to activate it for the first time to provide immediate protection to those fleeing the war. This unprecedented decision is remarkable and demonstrates that the EU can efficiently and promptly manage mass influxes of migrants, provided there is the political will to do so. However, the Ukrainian case also highlights some critical points of managing migratory flows through temporary protection. Indeed, TP is only an interim solution that cannot be extended beyond three years, and with the conflict lasting longer than expected, it alone might not prove sufficiently adequate to deal with the ongoing situation.