Reframing the Debate: Migration as an Essential Element of EU Foreign Policy

This Global Europe paper examines the external aspects of the European Union’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum, with a particular focus on developments on the Pact since the Special European Council meeting on 9 February 2023, the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting on 8 June and in advance of the next European Council meeting, which is scheduled for 29-30 June 2023. The February Council Conclusions focused on three external aspects of migration, namely: (i) external action, (ii) returns and readmissions and (iii) external borders and this paper explores how these three areas locate the position of EU migration policy firmly in its foreign policy.