Activists demonstrate outside the Embassy of Italy in Tunis on April 17, 2024, against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to Tunisia. Protesters claim that Tunisian migrants in Italy are often subject to poor treatment and forced deportations. Photo: Hasan Mrad/UCG Group via Getty Images
Activists demonstrate outside the Embassy of Italy in Tunis on April 17, 2024, against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to Tunisia. Protesters claim that Tunisian migrants in Italy are often subject to poor treatment and forced deportations. Photo: Hasan Mrad/UCG Group via Getty Images

In this breakfast seminar, we present findings from the MIGNEX project on the EU’s approach to achieving policy coherence in the field of migration. We will shed light on how the push for more efficient policies, including measures for return and readmission, have shaped this policy making over the years.

The long awaited New Pact on Migration and Asylum was recently approved. It was promoted as a milestone achievement in the EUs long search for a common and more coherent migration policy, and as striking a balance between efficiency and solidarity.  But, what is behind these buzzwords: policy coherence, efficiency and solidarity and what do they mean in practice?

The New Pact also aims to lay the ground for new partnerships with third countries, and has already drawn criticism for extending the EU’s externalization policy, by continuing to shift responsibility to border states and third countries, and attempting to remove a number of safeguards against the refoulement of refugees. At the same time, there appears to be a proliferation of third country partnerships such as the recent EU - Tunisia and EU - Mauritania strategic partnerships. Many experts claim that these partnerships may be first among many that will be established by the EU in 2024. In light of this, we take a look back at previous EU - third country partnerships with a specific focus on readmission and containment arrangements, domestic policy and development goals of partner countries and implications on the host and refugee populations.

The MIGNEX project has been carried out by researchers at nine institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, funded by Horizon Europe. MIGNEX has been led by PRIO - the largest research project to date led by PRIO. See mignex.org for information about the project.

Speakers

The conversation will be moderated by Jørgen Carling, Research Professor at PRIO and MIGNEX Project Leader.

Doors open at 08:30 and a light breakfast will be served. The seminar starts at 08:45.