"EU external competences on migration: which role for mixed agreements?"

Abstract

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The objectives of the external dimension of EU migration policy cannot be achieved by resorting exclusively to the external action of the Union. The current distribution of EU external competences in this field calls instead for the combination and coordination of both levels of action, EU and Member States , when cooperating with third countries of origin and transit. As the conclusion of mixed agreements rather than Union-only agreements appears recurrent in other fields in which the Union does not enjoy exclusive external competences over the whole area, this contribution attempts to assess which role mixity plays or could play in the field of migration. For this purpose, after a brief review of the distribution of external competences on migration and a presentation of the general contours of mixity, this chapter will attempt to systematise the scenarios of mandatory and facultative mixity and exemplify these within the migration field. A special attention will be paid to the recourse to mixed agreements in fields of concurrent competences, as well as to the particularities of the conclusion of association agreements in the mixed form, by reason of the special importance both issues present for the EU external action on migration.