The African Dimension of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

The article highlights the new “partnerships” with African countries developed within the framework of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. The author argues that by concluding informal agreements with Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt, the EU strives to shift responsibility for curbing migration flows to partner countries by means of conditionality - the traditional foreign policy instrument. After presenting informal agreements as an outcome of the Pact the author further traces a link between their conclusion and the Commission’s legislative proposals to revise the “safe third country concept” and make a list of “safe countries of origin”. The data from European Commission and Frontex, which indicate the decrease of migration inflow to Europe number and emerging of new migration routes, allow the author to conclude that the migration governance outside the EU proves partly effective. At the same time, the article points to the instability of the EU’s informal “deals” with African partners due to the lack of transparency, the vaguely formulated obligations of the parties and development aid, which is linked to a country’s results in curbing migration.

Pact on Migration and Asylum, safe third country, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, “gatekeepers of Europe”, Global Europe Instrument, Asylum Procedure Regulation, conditionality