Depoliticisng Migration Governance: The Case of the EU Task Force for Migration Management

The Pact on Migration and Asylum was adopted in 2024, ending a 10-year-long deadlock in the migration and asylum area. This deadlock resulted from a political crisis in the Council, with Member States reluctant to negotiate and engage in legislative reforms. To overcome this, the Commission resorted to alternative policy-making strategies to depoliticise migration management, such as shifting to exclusive and secluded settings and resorting to administrative governance through the use of EU funds or the deployment of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) agencies. This paper argues that depoliticisation strategies to govern EU migration policy resulted in the establishment of hybrid administrative bodies, such as the Task Force for Migration Management (TFMM). Comprising the Commission, JHA agencies, and national authorities, the TFMM operates both at the policy level in Brussels and on the ground in Member States, particularly in Greece and Cyprus. While its scope of intervention is extensive, the hybrid and secluded nature of the TFMM limits transparency in decision-making and scrutiny of its activities. Nonetheless, it provides an effective platform for reinforced coordination between the Commission and EU agencies. Drawing on document analysis and semi-structured interviews, this paper focuses on the role of the TFMM as a migration management depoliticisation mechanism, which further contributes to the consolidation of an integrated european administration.