The interplay between the EU institutions: A comparison of the external and internal dimension of EU migration reform

This paper analyses the interplay between the EU institutions in managing the ongoing negotiations about the EU Migration Pact of September 2020. It compares the handling of the external and the internal dimension of EU migration policy. The external dimension is characterized by heavy European Council involvement, which is meant to guide and steer the Commission and the Council, for instance on the issues of third country partnership agreements and physical border barriers. This involvement of the Heads is generally perceived as a nuisance, in that it politicizes discussions and interferes with technical level work. The debate about the internal dimension, as of yet, has seen little to no EUCO involvement. Drawing lessons from the previous round of failed migration reform (2016-2018), the institutional actors have been united in their attempts to keep the file away from the European Council. However, this ‘technical’ approach has also not been very effective. Apart from a ‘one-off’ agreement on the European Asylum Agency (EUAA), technical level negotiations are unable to get of the ground, due to a lack of political attention and momentum. This paper seeks to answer the question: is there, and what is an effective way to manage EU migration reform negotiations? More specifically, is there a way to navigate between the highly politicized and erratic EUCO level discussions and the technical level work that necessarily leaves all the politically contentious points ‘between brackets’? This paper uses the method of embedded process tracing to reconstruct process management by the institutions in real-time, working together with insiders from all sides, and drawing comparisons to previous rounds of migration reform (EU Turkey deal, CEAS reform package), and EUCO involvement in the Eurozone negotiations.