Migration Partnership Framework and the Externalization of European Union’s (EU) Migration Policy in West Africa: The Case of Mali and Niger

Abstract

This chapter examines how the European Union (EU) externalizes its migration policies in West African countries through various cooperation tools established as part of the 2016 European Agenda on Migration. The chapter analyses the generations of migration agreements between the EU and West African Countries, revealing that returns and readmission are the main focus of the European Union’s migration cooperation with West African countries. The case study on Niger and Mali examines the effect of the European Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), EU’s development policies and the securitization of migration in shaping their migration policies. This analysis unpacks the effect of EU cooperation on migration with West African countries on the agenda of free movement at the regional level, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The chapter concludes that the proposed framing and linkages between migration, security, readmission, labor mobility and trade in the cooperation between EU and West African countries would undermine the regional migration agenda in ECOWAS and lead to a rise in national tendencies and restrictive border practices in the region.