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Extension of Mobility Partnerships with Euro-Mediterranean Partners by Marie Martin

11 January 2013

In the wake of the historic events that spread from Tunisia to Egypt, Libya and the Middle East within a matter of weeks, it seemed that there might be an opportunity for a new impetus in the EU’s migration management policy in the Mediterranean. A few weeks after the Jasmine Revolution, the EU outlined proposals for a “Dialogue for Migration, Mobility and Security” with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and possibly also with Libya. These new proposals included the negotiation of Mobility Partnerships (MPs). The EU’s proposals are welcome when seen within the wider context of the generally restrictive migration policies (in terms of both narrative and practice) that have had a particularly negative impact on the Mediterranean Basin, a region that has traditionally been home to exchange and mobility.

However, moves towards a mutually beneficial approach to mobility appear less significant upon closer examination. The implementation of MPs, and their relevance for Southern Mediterranean countries, is not the only issue at hand. The negotiation of MPs with Euro-Mediterranean countries is likely to fall short of its promises; they come at a time when profound questions are being raised about the Union’s political will to implement inclusive and genuinely mutually beneficial migration policies on the one hand, and the intensification of the securitisation and externalisation of border controls to non-EU countries on the other.

See: Extension of Mobility Partnerships with Euro-Mediterranean Partners, from the 2012 Yearbook on Mediterranean policies.