Limits of Region Building Beyond Europe-An Analysis of EU Migration Policy as Foreign Policy

Abstract

EU migration diplomacy is at a crossroads. The EU has long sought for an effective mechanism of immigration control by extending the sphere of governance. However, deepened European integration has not been their choice. The EU is not headed for closer cooperation in the field of redistributive policies which would include policies with regard to the Third Country Nationals (TCNs) becoming better integrated into their host societies. Instead, in the field of migration policy, the EU has opted for a system of burden-sharing where non-EU countries are expected to share the responsibility with the EU. The diplomatic strategy to set up effective policy linkages has become increasingly significant along this line. This paper claims that the current set of policy packages presented by the EU to the rest of the world is becoming less effective than before. Although the strengthened economic and political ties with the EU has been one of the significant objectives of many non-EU countries in the neighboring regions of the EU in particular, these countries are more prone to keep the status quo, selecting not to cooperate to satisfy the EU’s needs. Through a case analysis on EU-Turkey, EU-Africa (Morocco) and EU-ASEAN relations, this paper shows that the power of the EU (be it normative or not) is waning because non-EU countries do not appreciate the global institutional framework in which the EU burden is “pushed back” on them. Underneath is the transformation of the international structure where the economic growth has made the EU’s neighboring countries more stabilized, while the EU member states are in turmoil due to factors that could jeopardize the foundation of the union. The “Enlargement” is no longer attractive to some non-EU countries. Moreover, it is increasingly difficult for the EU member states to form an agreement to build the strategy because the burden of accepting refugees (and asylum seekers) is already unequally distributed among them.