Irregular migration management in the EU

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to contemporary European migration management, with a particular emphasis on irregular migration. It presents a historical overview of the history of the European irregular migration regime, from the Schengen Convention to the Dublin-III-Regulation. ‘Economic migrant’ is sometimes employed to highlight that irregular migration is not always the result of political persecution or war. The establishment of a common European language on asylum and migration has played an important role in standardising “modes of knowledge” on migration. The chapter shows how the technocratic attempt to find the optimal way to manage migration to the EU has in fact driven the European migration regime in two seemingly contradictory directions. One of the principal ways to externalise the traditional policy tools of migration management has been the conclusion of readmission agreements with transit countries and countries of origin. Migration management represents one of the most controversial aspects of European policymaking.