The politics of international migration management: Revisiting regional migration diplomacy after the European migration governance crisis

Abstract

After experiencing the breakdown of established migration governance in the late summer of 2015, the European Union adopted a host of policies and bi- and multilateral measures with partner countries to further externalise migration control to transit and origin countries. Examples of this approach include the strengthening of Frontex, the adoption of return and readmission agreements and similar deals with partner countries such as the EU-Turkey deal. Moreover, the EU adopted new funding instruments such as the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa or the Jordan Compact which aim to improve the livelihoods of potential migrants in transit and origin countries in order to address ‘the root causes’ of migration. On the background of this evolution, the panel aims to assess how the European migration governance crisis has affected the relationship and the power dynamics between the EU and its partner countries. Thus, we aim to overcome an EU-centric approach which exclusively conceives the EU as the dominant actor in this relationship. More specifically, we are interested in papers that address the following questions: Has this crisis entailed a powershift in which partner countries are increasingly aware of the leverage they have over the EU? Which other factors have contributed to this change of perception? How has the crisis affected cooperation between the EU and partner countries both institutionally and substantively? Has it also affected domestic/internal policymaking on either side? Which theoretical concepts can help understand and/or explain these dynamics?

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