The European Commission will tomorrow (18 November) propose stepping up the EU’s international diplomacy on migration and mobility. Countries outside the EU – starting with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – are to be linked to the Union through ‘mobility partnerships’, while others will be invited to sign up to tailor-made ‘common agendas’. 

The plans, drawn up by Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for home affairs, are designed to facilitate legal migration and prevent illegal migration and human trafficking.

The partnerships with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will serve as a model for similar schemes with other countries. Their core elements are visa facilitation and re-admission agreements, to be conditional on progress by non-member states in curbing illegal migration. The fear of illegal migration from north Africa prompted a flurry of activity by the EU and its member states in the spring, although actual migration fell far short of many predictions.

Global approach

Malmström’s proposal, which will be discussed by national interior ministers in December, forms part of a ‘global approach’ to migration and mobility. Since the adoption in 2005 of the original global approach, the Commission has provided around €800 million for migration projects in non-EU countries.

Where the 2005 scheme focused on legal and illegal migration and on the development aspects of migration, the proposed changes add the international protection of refugees and the external dimension of EU asylum policy. This will include assisting non-member states in building up their asylum systems.

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The proposal also foresees a ‘common agenda’ on migration and mobility in cases where the EU or a non-member state are not yet ready to conclude visa facilitation and re-admission agreements. The agenda would set targets for co-operation between the two sides.