The external dimension of EU migration and asylum policy between migration politics and functional cooperation

In the last decade, the many migration crises at the EU Southern borders have inevitably put the spotlight on the external dimension (ED) of EU migration and asylum policies. The process of externalization is not new and already from the early 2000s the EU has moved towards international cooperation as a way to compensate for the deficiencies of traditional domestic migration control and for the failure to develop a common policy (Boswell 2003; Vega 2019). Yet, due to the scale and salience of recent migratory movements across the Mediterranean, the involvement of non-EU countries in the management of migration at the EU borders has gained a new prominence. The EU agenda on Migration (2015), the New Pact on Migration and Asylum (2020) and the European Commission’s Communication on ‘Enhancing cooperation on return and readmission’ (February 2021) all stress the relevance of cooperation with third countries of origin and transit as a key pillar for a comprehensive and effective EU migration policy. While externalisation has received an impressive scholarly attention (Boswell 2003; Chou 2009; Haddad 2008; Lavenex 2006; Lavenex and Ucarer 2004; Reslow and Vink 2015; Reslow 2019), comprehensive efforts towards the mapping and operationalisation of the ED of EU migration policies across countries and regions remain rare with only few exceptions (Carrera at al. 2015). Moreover, they fail to consider the impact of recent migration crises at the Southern borders. This research, therefore, seeks to provide some updated insights that -while building on previous studies- make the effort to map and take stock of the ED of EU migration policies in the last twenty years. More specifically, the goal of the article is twofold. It aims to share attempts towards the operationalization of the external dimension of EU migration policies; it engages into a mapping exercise that permits to understand how ‘geographically spread’ is the ED of EU migration policies and through which tools. Theoretically, the article adds some fresh perspectives by introducing the concept of externalisation ‘through the back door’ of functional cooperation and by combining two different and yet complementary dimensions: the politics of migration diplomacy, on the one hand, and the dimension of functional cooperation, on the other. Empirically, it builds upon the preliminary data collection I carried out in the framework of the H2020 project – PROTECT - The right to international protection (led by Bergen University).