Cross-border Asymmetries of EU Multi-level Governance : The Case of Ukrainian Citizens Under Temporary Protection
Abstract
The article conceptualises cross-border dysfunctionality in the architecture of EU multi-level governance as a new analytical category of public administration. The relevance stems from the unprecedented situation in which about 4.40 million Ukrainian citizens (February 2026) reside in the EU under temporary protection (TPD 2001/55/EC), while Ukraine holds candidate-country status with completed acquis screening. The study provides conceptual and empirical grounding for three dimensions of multi-level governance asymmetry – between the logic of rights and the logic of territory, between the protection regime and the regimes of internal market freedoms, and between supranational, national, and regional levels of governance. Three methodological approaches are applied: systemic (N. Luhmann’s systems theory and dynamical systems theory), historical-logical (reconstruction of TPD evolution from 2001 through four extensions), and comparative (C. Ragin’s typological method, M. Weber’s ideal-type construction). The empirical base draws on Eurostat, BAMF, UNHCR, and LISER data. A comparative analysis of Germany, Poland, Czechia, and Luxembourg – host countries for about 64% of all EU temporary-protection beneficiaries – confirms the hypothesis of structural fragmentation of post-TP regimes: four incompatible national distribution logics operate at different NUTS levels, rely on distinct registries (AZR, PESEL-UKR, OAMP), and generate concentration ratios differing sixfold (6.5 vs 36.6 per 1000 inhabitants). The Greater Region serves as the focal case, where 231 290 EU-citizen cross-border workers daily cross into Luxembourg while about 4 200 Ukrainian beneficiaries remain blocked by the territorial anchoring of Article 8(1) TPD. The practical value lies in shaping an analytical toolkit for Ukraine’s negotiating position in accession clusters 2 and 3, with three corrective instruments proposed: regional portable rights regime, EU-wide bridging permit, and reform of LTRD 2003/109/EC.
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