The New Pact on Migration and Asylum in a Shifting Political Context: Depoliticization and Repoliticization in EU External Migration Policy

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted in May 2024, aims to reform the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) through eight legislative files that address asylum, migration and border management. Although the New Pact says little about the external dimension of migration, the difficulties in passing this reform and the growing politicization of migration within the EU have prompted the European Commission to seek alternative venues where migration can be depoliticized. Among them, the area of external migration has provided the ideal conditions to move migration away from the public eye. By using soft-law instruments and financial incentives, the European Commission has fostered cooperation with third countries, particularly in Northern Africa (e.g. migration deals with Tunisia and Egypt). This paper argues that, while these strategies may yield efficient outcomes, they overlook the agency of external partners and their incentives to re-politicise cooperation with the EU. We support this argument by examining the negotiations for the Status Agreement for Frontex in Mauritania, where the government opted for an informal but highly visible deal over a binding yet largely invisible agreement.