Since the migration management crisis 2015, electoral demands to fight ‘illegal migration’ and cross-border crime, as well as to respond to perceived terrorist threats, have resulted in the growing politicisation of the EU’s external border. This process of politicisation has, however, not changed the fact that the EU’s current approach to border management is overly technocratic and has become increasingly reactive. By consequence, it has failed to build a long-term strategy that effectively combines border management and foreign policy in order to tackle the EU current geopolitical challenges in a coherent manner.
Analysts from the European Policy Centre and the EU Institute for Security Studies presented, at this Policy Dialogue, the findings of their joint publication “All Things to All Men: Geopolitics and Competing Priorities at the EU’s External Border”. Their work examines the interplay between border management and foreign policy in the context of the internal-external security nexus, with a view to contributing to a more integrated and consistent European approach. Amongst other issues, discussion at the event considered the role and evolution of Integrated Border Management (IBM); the growing focus on the EU Resettlement Framework as a potential instrument for migration management; and the link between foreign and migration policies in the context of the EU’s approach to Libya.
This research project was undertaken in cooperation with the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior of Finland.
Other two dissemination events were held in Berlin and Helsinki.
Speakers included: Frank McNamara, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre, Francesca Fabbri, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre, Roderick Parkes, Senior Analyst, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Sebastian Vagt, European Affairs Manager, Friedrich Naumann Foundation.