This paper investigates the empowering and disempowering effects of the issuing and implementation of the 2022 Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, the paper argues that there are varying forms of (dis)empowerment because of the TPD at both institutional and individual levels, and that those are inherently linked to time.
The paper uses secondary data (research reports and surveys) as well as formal statements by the European Commission, the Council and individual member states, to demonstrate how the TPD has temporarily empowered EU institutions and EU member states, while producing disempowerment through longer terms uncertainty for those subject to the directive.
The multilevel comparison shows how policies that, like the TDP, include a time element have asymmetrical (dis)empowering effects in multilevel systems like the EU.
The paper contributes to the study of policy making in the EU and European integration, particularly in migration issues, by mapping forms of (dis)empowerment at the institutional and individual level in the EU. By outlining the empowering patterns emerging from the TDP and similar policies, the study makes sense of how power is distributed and exercised within the EU.
