Mobility Partnerships Research Articles

The role of inernational institutions of destination countries in the formation of Moldovan diaspora in the European Union

The following article analyzes the involvement of international organizations and EU states in the consolidation and development of the Moldovan diaspora in the European Union; the article also investigates the primary forms and mechanisms of stimulating these processes. The main international institutions participating in the implementation of programs and projects are the UN, the International Labor Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the OSCE, the ICMPD, and others. On a regional level Moldova is the participant of many specialized organizations and platforms in the field of migration: Eastern Partnership, FRONEX, EUBAM, Mobility Partnership, the Prague Process, the Budapest Process, the Söderköping Process, and others. Among the donors that provide Moldova with financial aid in the field of migration and diaspora are many EU states, the USA, and several other countries. The Moldovan government regulates the institutional framework and the mechanism of coordination of external aid provided by the international organizations and donor-countries. Moldova receives different kinds of financial, legal, and logistical aid from the EU for the regulation of migration, integration of migrants in the EU. The article lists European conventions that influenced the development of Moldovan policy in the field of migration and diaspora. Diasporas are viewed as agents of change. European institutions begin to focus in their policies on diasporas only starting with 2011. The EU insists on close collaboration between the diasporas and the countries of origin, considering that migrant integration is more effective by way of diasporas. It is necessary for civil society institutions to participate in the process of integration. Moldova adopts the positive practices of diaspora attraction, its support for the country’s sustainable development. Practice shows that it is necessary to make agreements not only in the field of labor migration and social protection, but also in the field of labor migrants’ legal protection. The increasing role of the diaspora is tied to the deepening collaboration with the civil society of the destination countries, the participation of labor migrants in the destination countries’ political life. It is important for every level of administration participate in the development and implementation of strategies for migrant integration.

The Mobility-Democracy Nexus Betrayed: When the European Commission’s Talks Fall Apart in the Mediterranean

In the aftermath of the Arab uprisings, the European Union’s (EU) relations with the Southern neighbour countries (SNCs) have been reframed in the light of a new élan of democracy promotion. The underlying logic of this approach was to leverage the building and consolidation of democracy and rule of law through enhanced cooperation in terms of more ‘markets, money and mobility’. A sort of mobility-democracy nexus has been assumed by the European Commission as a crucial dimension of the EU’s external relations with SNCs. Within this strategy, Mobility Partnerships (MPs) with SNCs have been identified as a key policy tool for EU democracy promotion. Via original qualitative analysis of European Commission’s documents, MPs, and other migration and mobility agreements that the EU has negotiated with SNCs since 2011, this paper explores how the mobility-democracy nexus has been defined in the Commission’s talks. We critically discuss the effectiveness of this nexus and demonstrate the inefficacy of MPs as a tool to promote democracy by fostering more mobility and regular migration flows. Looking at the content of MPs with three SNCs (Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan) allows to trace the transformation of EU external relations with SNCs from a principled approach into selective issue-oriented cooperation based on more specific and sectorial policy choices. European Union, Southern neighbourhood, EU external policies, post-Arab uprisings, mobility partnerships, democracy promotion, migration, content analysis

Mind the gap! Organized hypocrisy in EU cooperation with Southern neighbor countries on international protection

Abstract The European Union (EU) has reacted to the migration crises of the last decade with growing externalization of migration management to neighbor countries often accused of not respecting human rights and individual liberties. Focusing on EU cooperation with the Southern neighborhood, as defined within the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) framework, this paper investigates the recent developments in the EU's external migration policies, demonstrating that there is a gap between EU discourses and policy instruments identified by the EU as strategic tools of the European migration and asylum policy (MAP). Five Southern neighbor countries (SNCs) have been selected, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, to assess the extent to which the EU, when cooperating on migration and asylum issues, places international protection at risk instead of playing the role of humanitarian actor in accordance with the ideals and principles it defends. The research critically analyzes the EU's cooperation with SNCs concerning migration, as developed via international agreements, action plans, and mobility partnerships under the umbrella of the ENP. In particular, it explores the incompatibility between the European MAP instruments and international protection. MAP, the qualitative analysis shows, represents a clear mismatch between EU talk and action, outlining another case of organized hypocrisy.

‘Formal informality’ in EU external migration governance: the case of mobility partnerships

ABSTRACT External migration has become a site for extensive EU activity, not least in the years following the start of the migration ‘crisis’ in 2015–2016. It has also become a testing ground for forms of governance that are not generally associated with external relations. We term this type of governance ‘formal informality’ as there is the appearance of an EU agreement with a third country but lacking the legal protections or transparency for actions taken under it. The informality associated with tools of governance is potentially problematic when used to bypass the substantive and procedural formalities associated with law, and which in turn ensure transparency and the protection of rights. This article uses the emergence and evolution of Mobility Partnerships between the EU and third countries as a prism to analyse what the moves towards informality mean for the governance of external migration.

Legal and policy relevance of EU mobility partnerships in Morocco and Cape Verde: the role of epistemic communities

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to better understand the role played by epistemic communities in the legal and policy relevance of Mobility Partnerships for third countries. I argue that the influence of epistemic communities on the legal and policy developments of a third country varies according to the context in which they operate. Epistemic communities benefitting from a certain authority over third countries or a certain form of ‘prestige’ will be more likely to be influential. However, third country’s agency should not be neglected as we can see that the most effective epistemic communities operate where the third country is willing to listen and respond to a specific need for support. The paper shows that we can only comprehend the role of epistemic communities in the relevance of Mobility Partnerships, if we take seriously the interests of third countries and understand the context in which Mobility Partnerships are being negotiated and implemented.

Higher Education and Skills Development in Africa: An Analytical Paper on the Role of Higher Learning Institutions on Sustainable Development

Many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa face challenges that require the intervention of national governments, development partners and other stakeholders. HEIs also require new investment paradigms to maximize students’ acquisition of work-ready skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable students to contribute effectively to the workforce. The objective of this study was to identify reforms and investments needed to strengthen Higher Education (HE) in Africa and to inform the design and implementation of future investments and policy for sustainable development. A systematic review approach, involving a synthesis of literature on this theme in Africa in recent years, by African governments, education networks, academia and international bodies, was employed. The study used data from UNESCO and World Bank databases which were blended with the synthesis of the literature. The obtained literature was analysed and synthesized on the basis of its relevance and value to the HEIs study discourse. Textual and thematic analysis tookcentre stage with a view to establishing current reforms in HEIs and the concomitant investments that national governments and other key stakeholders need to make to have robust HEIs. The study used the Human Capital Theory that postulates that the most efficient path to the national development of any society lies in the improvement of its population, which is considered as the human capital. Despite criticisms of the human capital theory at the individual level on the extent to which education is directly related to improvements in occupation or income, human capital theorists generally assume that after all the known inputs into economic growth have been explained, much of the unexplained residual variance represents the contribution of the improvement of human capital, of which education is seen as most important (Merwe, 2010). The results of the study show that HEIs have done very little to promote Intra-Africa Academic Mobility and nurture HEI-industry partnerships to address demand and supply aspects of the labour force. The massification of higher education, resulting in a democratization of education, and the advent of the knowledge economy and globalization, among other factors, are being experienced without commensurate planning and with no corresponding accompanying increase in resources to enable the HEIs cope with the increased student population. HEIs in Africa are sub-optimally capacitated to combat Africa’s pressing challenges such as unemployment, climate change and COVID-19 pandemic. The study points out that HEIs need to evolve in tandem with continental and global market needs to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4 on quality education. Further, it recommends that HEIs should encourage Intra-Africa Academic Mobility and foster HEI-industry partnerships to address demand-and-supply aspects of the labour force. In this respect, HEIs in Africa should be developing curricula aimed at building capacity of leaders and professionals to respond to the need to decarbonize and dematerialize development in Africa and leverage on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Consequently, HEIs must prepare students to be entrepreneurial and resilient; able to continue to learn and reinvent themselves and their careers throughout their lives. Indeed, HEIs should view themselves as creative hubs where partners come together and harness each other’s synergy to innovate and solve societal problems.

Interactions between Key Factors that Influence Cross-Border Cooperation in Public Transport: The Case of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine

ABSTRACT Several factors that influence cross-border cooperation (CBC) in spatial planning in Europe – including technical, legal and cultural factors – have been observed empirically in recent years. However, the importance and interactions among these may vary significantly between the specific fields of spatial planning (e.g. mobility, economic clusters, energy networks or urban-regional partnerships). To determine the more specific implications these factors have on public transport where obstacles to CBC are particularly evident, the authors conducted nine interviews with public transport and mobility planners in the Belgian-Dutch-German borderland. These interviews revealed major interactions between key factors (e.g. technical, political and financial) that influence CBC in public transport. Thus, it is challenging to determine the individual importance of any of these factors. In this case study region, stakeholders have used different forms of institutionalization to mitigate obstacles and further promote cross-border public transport.

Effectiveness of a Novel Implementation of the Otago Exercise Program in Rural Appalachia.

Despite evidence that falls can be prevented with specific exercise interventions such as the Otago Exercise Program (OEP), translation of these programs into practice is limited in rural and medically underserved areas. The Community Health and Mobility Partnership (CHAMP) addresses this problem through a community-based implementation of the OEP in rural Appalachia where medical resources are scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the CHAMP on physical performance and balance confidence in community-dwelling older adults. This study was a retrospective analysis of quasi-longitudinal data. Older adults received fall screenings at local senior centers. Those with increased fall risk received individualized OEP home exercises and were advised to return for monthly follow-up visits. Three physical performance measures-Timed Up and Go test (TUG), Four-Stage Balance Test (4SBT), and chair rise test (CRT)-and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC) were assessed at the initial visit (IV) and each follow-up visit. Two groups were created to distinguish participants who returned for their second follow-up (F2) visit within 3 months from those who returned between 3 and 6 months. Within-group change from IV to F2 was calculated using repeated-measures t tests. Repeated-measures 2-way analyses of variance were used to test for main and interaction effects of group and visit. One hundred thirty CHAMP participants aged 76.1 (SD = 8.1) years demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvements in the 3 physical performance measures (mean 4SBT: IV 29.5 seconds, F2 31.5 second, P = .001), (mean TUG: IV 12.7 seconds, F2 11.9 seconds, P = .021), (mean CRT: IV 0.258 stands/second, F2 0.290 stands/second, P = .002), but not in balance confidence (mean ABC: IV 62.2, F2 64.4, P = .154). A significant interaction of group by visit for the TUG was observed, suggesting that better TUG performance was associated with quicker return for follow-up. Results indicated that program participants improved from IV to F2 in measures related to fall risk.

From Mobility Partnerships to Migration Compacts: security implications of EU-Jordan relations and the informalization of migration governance

ABSTRACT Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa entailed a proliferation of policy tools for EU external migration governance. After the signature of Mobility Partnerships, the EU launched Migration Compacts, whose inner logic is to ‘avoid the risk that concrete delivery is held up by technical negotiations for a fully-fledged formal agreement’. This paper examines the development of the EU’s external migration governance and frames it into a formalization/informalization dichotomy. We argue that the EU-led securitisation of migration has contributed to the increasing informalization of EU-third countries agreements. The case of Jordan is relevant in understanding the EU’s approach, as a strategy to muddle through in a region in turmoil.

Parcerias público-privadas de saúde e mobilidade urbana no Estado da Bahia: atual conjuntura, projetos e principais agentes envolvidos

Resumo O trabalho tem por objetivo identificar as parcerias público-privadas (PPPs) existentes no estado da Bahia; avaliar e comparar, por meio de estudos de caso das parcerias de saúde e mobilidade urbana, a efetividade delas mediante o exame da estruturação de projetos, implementação e funcionamento das concessões; e ponderar sobre os agentes públicos e privados envolvidos e suas articulações. Além disso, foi realizada uma análise dessas PPPs a fim de compreender a complexidade desses arranjos contratuais. A pesquisa utilizou uma metodologia qualitativa, de cunho exploratório e descritivo, empregando os métodos de procedimentos monográfico e comparativo. Os resultados mostraram que a Bahia tem avançado na provisão de serviços públicos e de infraestrutura por meio dessas parcerias, com projetos pioneiros que abrangem uma heterogeneidade de agentes públicos e privados, nacionais e internacionais, formando uma rede de poder dinâmica. No entanto, existem também críticas a esse tipo de parceria, em virtude dos riscos de não cumprimento de seus propósitos no sistema de governança e em longo prazo, pelas obrigações financeiras para os futuros contribuintes.

Chinese Labor Migration to Europe, 2008‐16. Implications for China‐EU Mobility in the Post‐crisis Context

AbstractThe article examines the evolution of Chinese labour migration to the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Italy in order to elucidate how the flows and stocks of Chinese workers have evolved since the Global Economic Crisis, and what implications this has have for Sino‐European mobility partnerships in the post‐crisis context. It explains: (1) What comparative data are available on Chinese labour migration to the six principal countries of destination in Europe; (2) How have Chinese labour migration flows and stocks evolved since the GEC; (3) How may the new Chinese workers’ mobility to Europe affect their rights?

Reversed Conditionality in EU External Migration Policy: The Case of Morocco

Mobility partnerships between the European Union (EU) and third countries are usually viewed as reflecting asymmetric power relations where development aid, trade relations and visa policies are made conditional upon the cooperation by third countries with an EU agenda of migration control. Drawing on Cassarino’s notion of ‘reversed conditionality’, this article advocates a more balanced view of EU-third country relations and argues that mobility partnerships are also instrumentalised as part of the domestic agendas of third countries. The argument is illustrated by an analysis of the case of EU-Morocco relations with a specific focus on the National Strategy for Immigration and Asylum in Morocco. The analysis illustrates how soft law instruments such as mobility partnerships have significant legal and political implications for third countries and can provide important external support for the development and implementation of national political priorities.

The Unintended Legal and Policy Relevance of EU Mobility Partnerships

Abstract The Mobility Partnerships between the European Union and third countries have a negative image as they are often viewed as a tool of migration control rather than a flexible instrument to enhance mobility. Yet so far scholars have predominantly investigated the asymmetric negotiation of Mobility Partnerships as well as their limited consequences for migrant rights in EU Member States. What is often overlooked is that these partnerships can also influence the development of the legal and policy frameworks of third countries in ways that go beyond what is foreseen at the time of the negotiation of the instruments. This article combines a comparative legal analysis of the development of the legal frameworks in Morocco and Cape Verde with an empirical study of the implementation of Mobility Partnerships’ projects in relation to national migration strategies. The analysis demonstrates that Mobility Partnerships, despite their non-binding nature, have legal and policy relevance for these third countries with regard to the regulation of migration, asylum, human trafficking and even labour law.

From discourse to practice: the circulation of norms, ideas and practices of migration management through the implementation of the mobility partnerships in Moldova and Georgia

This research wishes to contribute to the understanding of the migration policy regime of the European Union (EU), by considering an analytical perspective that privileges the standpoint of the countries of its neighbourhood. As an entry point, we have focused our analysis on the Mobility Partnership, a policy instrument of soft power, representative of the emblematic network governance privileged by the EU in its current political framework, the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM). Applying an “instrument approach”, our research raises the question of the role played by the Mobility Partnership in the circulation of norms, ideas and practices related to the “good governance” of international migration, and whether these are internalized by the partner third countries. We present the results of a comparative analysis of two study-cases, Moldova and Georgia, countries considered by the European Commission as the “best pupils” in the implementation of their Mobility Partnerships, with the ambition to interrogate whether this instrument leads to a “common understanding” between the EU and the national actors that may lead to a translation of the European objectives in the field of migration into the registries of practices in the countries of the Eastern neighbourhood. Lastly, we will discuss the strategic “usage” of this instrument from the partner third countries, that can lead to different results, from complete absorption of the objectives, to resistance in their implementation.

Mobility and legal migration in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy: what role for the European Union?

The paper examines the evolution of the external dimension of EU immigration policy mainly in the context of European Neighbourhood policy (ENP). The EU is interested in countering irregular migration from Southern neighbours rather than in facilitating legal migration for third country nationals. The latter field falls within the competence of the EU Member States and they are reluctant to open legal migration channels. Only recently Mobility Partnerships (MPs) have been concluded with Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. Most recently, the EU has decided to financially support countries of origin/transit in order to strengthen their capacity to tackle migration pressure; migration compacts will be negotiated not only with Southern neighbours but also with other African countries. In contrast to Southern neighbours, MPs were agreed with all Eastern neighbours, except Belarus; readmission agreements and visa-free agreements were concluded with three Eastern neighbour countries: Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The EU has fostered mobility and people-to-people movements in its relations with Eastern neighbours but the added value of EU legislation designed to favour legal migration and integration of third country nationals remain limited. The conclusion is that the EU continues to be a «fortress», especially for low-skilled migrants seeking an employment.

E PLURIBUS UNUM? THE COMMUNITARIZATION OF EU MIGRATION, ASYLUM AND BORDER MANAGEMENT POLICIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS

The article accounts for the emergence of an external dimension of EU internal policies and focuses on the migration, asylum and border management domains. Building on Bretherton & Vogler (2006), it assesses and explains the forms and extent of EU’s external engagement. Firstly, it assesses the degree of EU actorness – that is, the extent to which the Union has become an actor in global politics - in the researched fields in terms of opportunity, presence and capabilities. Secondly, it attempts to explain the emergence of such EU external engagement. While the article defends that the treaty objective of creating an European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (article 3 TEU) makes EU external action in the migration, asylum and border control domains necessary, it also acknowledges the role of external triggers, such as the so-called 2015 ‘migration and refugee crisis’. On the one hand, external events can provide scope conditions accelerating the pace by which EU external action is pursued. On the other hand, they can also trigger the comeback of hard security concerns linked to claims for ‘more national sovereignty’, thus constraining the development of EU (external) action. The analysis carried out shows that the degree of EU actorness varies considerably across the three domains researched. On one extreme of the continuum, neo-realist understandings of increased arrivals of foreign citizens as hard security challenges to member states account for the enhanced interest in cooperation at the intergovernmental level. Such interpretations explain why the most established domain for EU external engagement is the cooperation with third countries on border management, as it is shown by the expansion of the mandate of EU agencies such as Europol and Frontex, or by negotiation by the European Commission of international agreements containing clauses on readmission of third country citizens irregularly residing in the EU to their countries of origin (the Mobility Partnerships). Less developed, yet quickly evolving, is the EU external dimension of migration policies. Functional concerns related to the need to acquire highly specialized (and relatively cheap) workforce towards an efficient functioning of the single market have prompted a remarkable the law-making in this area, as shown by the EC directives and regulations aimed at third country students, unpaid trainees, voluntary workers and big corporations’ staff. While the neo-functionalist logic explains the emergence of the external dimension of EU migration policies, it may also explain this development is currently limited to certain areas within the policy area. A comprehensive approach to migration policy has not proved possible to achieve so far, due to institutional and bureaucratic limitations, as well as the different agenda of national policymakers. On the other extreme of the continuum, liberal theories and constructivism account for the constraints currently limiting the full development of EU actorness in asylum policies. Several member states’ civil societies do not perceive prospects for absolute gains deriving from cooperation at the EU level. Constraints to the establishment of international institutions regulating asylum policies are thus understood through the lack of strong societal pressures at the member states level. Therefore, while the article puts forward a combination of neo-functionalist, neo-realist, liberal intergovernamentalist and constructivist explanations to account for the emergence of an external dimension of migration asylum and border management policies, as wells as for the obstacles opposing that process, it also provides evidence that external triggers such as increased migratory pressure lead to internal policy dynamics with positive or negative impacts on the shift of actorness from EU member states to the EU itself.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.11.18956

“Not everything that counts can be counted”: Assessing ‘success’ of EU external migration policy

AbstractIn the context of the ongoing “migration crisis” the externalization of EU migration policy has continued. EU policy documents argue that cooperation with non‐EU countries is essential in order to manage migration flows. But how successful is this policy? The public policy literature teaches us that “policy success” can be defined in varying ways: as goal achievement; as political success; in terms of norms; in terms of the costs associated with the policy; temporally; and in the light of external factors. An application of this analytical framework to the EU Mobility Partnerships uncovers conceptual and methodological challenges, and above all highlights the need for evaluation of EU external migration policy to be taken more seriously.

Mobility Partnerships and Security Subcomplexes in the Mediterranean: The Strategic Role of Migration and the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policies Towards the MENA Region

The present article discusses the negotiating and implementing of Mobility Partnership (MP) agreements between the European Union (EU) and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. Taking its starting point in the conceptual notions of subregional security complexes and non-traditional security issues, the article analyses the MPs by looking at the strategic significance of migration in the context of EU’s foreign and security policy cooperation with the five Arab Mediterranean states. The MPs are seen as an important element in the EU’s overall migration strategy, but have been met with reluctance by the Arab partner states. The article concludes that so far only to a limited degree have the MPs developed into well-functioning tools for managing the migration policies of the EU and its partners states, and that they seem mainly to play a role as instruments for the EU’s foreign and security policy interests.

Migration, Mobility and the Challenge of Co-ownership Exploring European Union-Tunisia Post-Revolutionary Agenda

Soon after the jasmine revolution and the fall of Ben Ali’s regime in 2011, the migration and mobility dossier immediately entered the cooperation agenda between the European Union (EU) and Tunisia and dominated bilateral negotiations. The signature of the Joint Declaration for a Mobility Partnership was an important breakthrough in EU-Tunisia cooperation, since after decades of stalemate, the agreement allegedly sealed a new mutual will to cooperate in a sensitive policy area. Despite its pivotal role in the ‘new turn’ in EU-Tunisia relations, and against the EU declared quest for strengthened co-ownership, this contribution argues that the first steps of the EU-Tunisia Privileged Partnership in the realm of migration tend to replicate rooted dynamics rather than breaking with the past. It is contented that the permanence of deep institutional embeddedness in times of volatile transition limited the leeway of the Tunisian government, confirm the asymmetric nature of the relationship and questions the possibility for future cooperation priorities to be truly co-owned.

Funding the eu–Morocco ‘Mobility Partnership’: Of Implementation and Competences

This article explores the role of funding under the ‘Mobility Partnership’ (mp) concluded between the European Union (eu), various Member States and Morocco. As most academic literature and policy discourse assumes a link between funding and policy implementation, this article enquires into how funding can help us understand implementation and the priorities set therein, and what alternative understandings of funding we could develop. By presenting evidence from the eu-Morocco mp, it is argued that looking at eu funding obscures rather than clarifies the priorities pursued in the cooperation on borders, asylum and migration. Drawing from the political sociology of public finances and from legal literature, this article understands funding as embedded in institutional, legal and political struggles over competences, and highlights the symbolic nature of funding.