Co-Sponsored by the UW-Madison Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence for Populism and Political Economy, the UC Berkeley Jean Monnet Center of Excellence, the UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies, the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law, Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, Virginia Tech Center for European and Transatlantic Studies.
This is a virtual event. Registration is required. Register here.
The external dimension of the EU migration policy relies to a large extent on its development policy to foster ‘mutually beneficial partnerships’ between the EU and non-EU Member States. This was last confirmed in the EU New Pact on Migration and Asylum and especially in the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) adopted in May 2024. As part of the ‘external components’ of the revamped ‘comprehensive approach to asylum and migration management’, this instrument mentions that the ‘root causes and drivers of irregular migration and forced displacement’ have to be addressed. The mention of the ‘root causes’ of irregular migration is in direct reference to the EU’s approach to migration and development.
As an EU policy concept, the ‘migration-development nexus’ has had a tortuous evolution, leading to its current fragmentation and ‘capture’ by the EU migration policy. Beyond the ongoing emphasis of the EU migration policy on the ‘fight against irregular migration’, prioritising readmission and return, the ‘migration-development nexus’ has especially born witness to the way in which the colonial legacy of the EU has kept reinventing itself.
By tracing the evolution of the ‘migration-development nexus’ in the EU policy framework, from the early 1990s to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, this lecture highlights how the latter contributes to maintain and perpetuate a (neo)colonial relationship, especially with African countries.
Janine Silga is an Assistant Professor of European Union law, at the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University. Prior to joining DCU, she held postdoctoral positions at the University of Luxembourg and at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She completed her PhD in Law at the European University Institute of Florence with a dissertation on the legal dimension of the migration – development nexus in the European Union policy framework. Her research focuses on immigration law and policy both at the European and international level. In this respect, she has done substantial research on human rights in connection to both migration and asylum.