The gendarmes of Europe: Southern Mediterranean states and the EU’s partnership framework on migration

Southern Mediterranean countries are among the principal partners of the European Union in the field of migration. The EU is seeking to ‘externalize’ migration control to its neighbours by inducing them to stop the flow of migrants and asylum seekers before they reach its borders. This chapter analyses the tools the Union uses to implement this externalization: negotiating readmission agreements, supporting projects on irregular migration in partner countries, and seeking cooperation in border-management operations. The analysis shows that the EU has succeeded in eliciting cooperation from Libya, but not from other states. It also suggests that existing and potential cooperation initiatives may have a severe impact on human rights. The Union, it is argued, should re-evaluate its strategy by making a pragmatic assessment of costs and benefits and giving greater weight to human rights concerns, as well as to its partners’ priorities.