EU border control by proxy: third countries acting as gatekeepers of mobility across EU borders

This introductory paper seeks to frame the issue and provide a recap of the EU political debate to explain a 'new normal' of EU borders' control by proxy. In recent years, the European Union (EU) has shifted towards an increasingly externalized approach to border and migration management, involving formal and informal collaboration with countries of origin and transit through a variety of tools. This panel critically explores the evolution of EU border control strategies, emphasizing the increasing reliance on third countries as an approach that has become a new normal in the external dimension of EU migration and asylum policies. This new normal raise crucial questions about policy effectiveness in managing migration flows and the inherent implementation challenges, including the role of third countries as key actors receiving and reacting to EU cooperation efforts; migrants’ human (in)security and concerns over the fortification of external borders including the (un)balance between border security and humanitarian obligations; the role of border security ‘agents’ in both the EU and third countries; the international relations implications and issue-linkage with migration becoming entwined with a range of other diplomatic and policy issues (trade, energy, aids, development cooperation). The panel will delve into these aspects to foster critical discussion on the complexities, challenges, and consequences of this new normal in EU external migration and asylum policies.