Some Brief Reflections Concerning the Mobility Partnership in the EU External Migration Policiy

• Author: Teressa Russo
• Position: Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Department of Legal Science (School of Law), University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 84084 FISCIANO (SA), ITALY.
• Pages: 93-109

Paix et Securité Internationales

ISSN 2341-0868, Num. 4, janvier-décembre 2016, pp. 93-109

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25267/Paix_secur_ int.2016.i4.04

93

SOME BRIEF REFLECTIONS CONCERNING THE MOBILITY

PARTNERSHIP IN THE EU EXTERNAL MIGRATION POLICY

Teresa RUSSO1

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS CONCERNING THE PARTNERSHIP

INSTRUMENT – II. THE EXTERNAL DIMENSION OF EU MIGRATION

POLICY AND THE “PARTNERSHIP APPROACH” – III. THE MOBILITY

PARTNERSHIP: LEGAL FORM AND CONTENTS – IV. THE PRIORITY GIVEN

TO THE AFRICAN AND MEDITERRANEAN AREA – V. CONCLUSIONS:

WHAT RESULTS?

ABSTRACT: The present work intends to highlight the most relevant aspects of the choices of the

EU’s external migration policy through the instrument of Mobility Partnership which was proposed

as general framework for the management of migration f‌l ows from third countries. Its main aim

was to take due account of the interests and objectives of EU, partner countries and migrants them-

selves. So, the partnership was included among the external migration policy’s instruments with

additional and different features than its earlier namesakes of the Union’s external relations. Never-

theless, the need to contain the migratory pressure coming from Africa and the Mediterranean, an

area in which the Union has recognized priority actions, affects the form and the content of the few

partnerships concluded until now and has a negative impact on its results, as well as on the respect

of fundamental rights of migrants.

KEY WORDS: EU external migration policy, Partnership, Mediterranean, Readmission Agree-

ment.

ALGUNAS BREVES REFLEXIONES SOBRE LA ASOCIACIÓN DE MOVILIDAD EN LA

POLITICA DE LA UE EN MATERIA DE MIGRACIÓN EXTERIOR

RESUMEN: Este trabajo se centra en los aspectos más relevantes de las decisiones de política

exterior de migración de la UE, mediante la Asociación de Movilidad que se propone como marco

general para la gestión de los f‌l ujos migratorios procedentes de terceros países. Su objetivo princi-

pal era tener debidamente en cuenta los intereses y objetivos de la UE, los países socios y los pro-

pios migrantes. Es así que la cooperación se incluyó entre los instrumentos de política de migración

externa con características nuevas y diferentes de sus antecedentes dentro de las relaciones externas

de la Unión Europea. Sin embargo, la necesidad de contener la presión migratoria procedente de

África y del Mediterráneo, área en la cual la Unión ha reconocido acciones prioritarias, inf‌l uye en

la forma y el contenido de pocas asociaciones hasta ahora llevadas a cabo, y posee una repercusión

negativa en sus resultados, tal como en el respeto de los derechos básicos de los migrantes.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Política exterior de migración de la UE, Asociaciones de Movilidad,

Mediterráneo, Acuerdo de readmisión

1 Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Department of Legal Science

(School of Law), University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 84084 FISCIANO (SA),

ITALY.

Some Brief Ref‌l ections Concerning the Mobility Partnership in the EU External Migratrion Policy

Paix et Securité Internationales

ISSN 2341-0868, Num. 4, janvier-décembre 2016, pp. 93-109

94

QUELQUES BREFS REFLEXIONS SUR LE PARTENARIAT POUR LA MOBILITÉ

DANS LA POLITIQUE MIGRATOIRE EXTÉRIEURE DE L’UE

RÉSUMÉ : Ce travail se concentre sur les aspects les plus pertinents des choix de la politique

migratoire extérieure de l’UE à travers l’instrument de partenariat de mobilité qui a été proposé

comme cadre général pour la gestion des f‌l ux migratoires en provenance des pays tiers. Son princi-

pal objectif était de tenir dûment compte des intérêts et des objectifs de l’UE, les pays partenaires

et les migrants eux-mêmes. Ainsi, le partenariat a été inclus parmi les instruments de la politique de

migration externe avec des fonctionnalités supplémentaires et différentes que ses homonymes anté-

rieures de relations extérieures de l’Union. Néanmoins, la nécessité de contenir la pression migra-

toire en provenance d’Afrique et de la Méditerranée, un domaine dans lequel l’Union a reconnu les

actions prioritaires, affecte la forme et le contenu des rares partenariats conclus jusqu’à présent et

a un impact négatif sur ses résultats, ainsi que sur le respect des droits fondamentaux des migrants.

MOTS-CLÉS: Politique migratoire extérieure de l’UE, Partenariat, Méditerranée, Accord de réad-

mission.

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS CONCERNING THE PARTNERSHIP INSTRUMENT

For a long time now some scholars no longer believe that the production

of international law is limited to classical sources. This is because of their

pluralization process. In fact these sources are multiple and different from

those perceived in the classical conception of international law because of

the growing involvement in regulatory activity of more actors besides States2.

This means, on the one hand, a recourse to informality in the production

of international law and on the other hand, it causes a diversif‌i cation of the

means of production of its rules and, as a result, of their content.3

In such a context we can include partnerships which, although in many

cases coincide with the classical international treaty, in other cases show

different connotations not perfectly coincident with the f‌i rst. Partnerships

have therefore become a tool to foster cooperation and integration of third

countries and their citizens in the European Union, namely a framework within

2 See D’ASPREMONT, J., (ed.), Participants in the International Legal System-Multiple Perspectives on

Non-State Actors in International Law, Routledge, London, 2011. See also VON BOGDANDY,

A., WOFRUM, R., VON BERNSTORFF, J., DANN, P., GOLDMANN, M. (eds.), The Exercise of

Public Authority by International Institutions. Advancing International Institutional Law, Springer,

Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York, 2010, in particular pp. 3-32.

3 In this perspective, see D’ASPREMONT, J., Formalism and the sources of International Law –

A theory of the Ascertainment of Legal Rules, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011, who

considers also that: ‘the idea that formal law-ascertainment has grown inappropriate to

capture contemporary international norms has become even more prevalent’, p. 3.