The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Sara Poli, Associate Professor of EU Law (University of Pisa, Italy; email: Sara.Poli@unipi.it) Summer School on Migration, European University Institute, 28 June 2017
Topics of the lecture • Part I. The ENP: its principles and evolution (2003-2017) – Questions based on the readings • Part II. ENP countries and the cooperation on migration with the EU prof. Sara Poli 2
Part I The ENP: its principles and evolution prof. Sara Poli
Part I: The ENP, its principles and evolution • Countries covered • Objectives of the ENP • Legal Instruments, Means and Principles • Evolution of the ENP in 2011 • Assessment of the cooperation with ENP partners • The revision of the ENP in 2015 • The EU-Ukraine agreement prof. Sara Poli 4
Questions (group I) • Which countries are covered by the ENP? • What are the objectives of the EU in the context of the ENP? • What does the EU offer to ENP countries in exchange of cooperation? • What are the legal instruments and the means used by the EU to achieve the objectives of the ENP? prof. Sara Poli 5
Questions (group II) • On the basis of which principles does the EU cooperate with its neighbours? – Differentiation – Conditionality – Equal partnership • How did the ENP evolve? – 2011 (Arab Spring): market, money and mobility prof. Sara Poli 6
Assessment of the cooperation with ENP partners • Security, stability and prosperity in 2015? Did ENP countries undertake a process of reform? • There is variable geometry in the EU-ENP countries relations; • The EU has acted as a catalyser of changes in the Eastern associated neighbours (Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia having an association agreement with the EU): • political association and economic integration but with no clear membership perspective; very wide scope of the agreements; • the «deep» and «comprehensive» free trade area; principle of market access conditionality; • Asymmetric form of cooperation between the EU and the associated countries (EU-led form of trade liberalization); • Very high costs of implementation for Ukraine. • Other Eastern neighbours are interested in a lower level of cooperation with the EU (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia) • Southern neighbours: Tunisia and Morocco (countries in transition) prof. Sara Poli 7
Questions (group III) • The implementation deficits of the ENP? • Causes: – Presumption that there could be «common values» – Presumption that ENP countries could reform their domestic system on the basis of «shared values» – Presumption that the incentives to change were sufficient prof. Sara Poli 8
New approach of the ENP as reviewed (2015) • The EU will continue to support countries that carry out reforms in the fields of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights • Greater focus on security and stability rather than on prosperity; • Greater focus and partners’ needs, if compatible with EU interests; • Greater respect of the principle of ownership – Latest report on the review of the ENP: JOIN(2017) 18 final prof. Sara Poli 9
Part II Cooperation in the area of migration prof. Sara Poli
Major migration routes Source: European Parliamentary Research Service, 2015 prof. Sara Poli 11
ENP countries and the migration challenges posed by them • Irregular migration: – Country of origin: Morocco, Libya, – Countries of transit: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon – Two categories of migrants: economic migrants and persons qualifying for asylum or other forms of international protection • Legal migration: Morocco and Ukraine prof. Sara Poli 12
Cooperation in the area of migration between the EU and ENP countries • Common interest between the EU and neighbours to fight illegal immigration, trafficking, organised crime or terrorist networks (COM (2003) 104) • Member States counter irregular migration through bilateral agreements • As of 2005 the EC (later the EU) also concludes re-admission agreements to fight illegal immigration prof. Sara Poli 13
Re-admission agreements • A State may request the partner country to readmit to its territory all persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry to or stay on the territory of the requesting State, provided that they are nationals of the requested State • Third country nationals having a different nationality of the requested State but leaving from the requested State? prof. Sara Poli 14
The difficulties of concluding readmission agreements (RAs) • It is not attractive for a third country to conclude a readmission agreement (RA) • The link between readmission agreements and visa facilitation agreements (VFA) in the EU practice; negotiation of the two agreements is carried out in parallel, where possible – Ukraine readmission agreement and visa facilitation agreement (2007) prof. Sara Poli 15
Mobility partnerships • Launched in 2006-2007 • Parties: a ENP partner, the MS and the EU • Legal Nature: political declarations • Content (very flexible): include commitments to facilitate legal migration, foster well-managed mobility, while preventing and combating illegal immigration and trafficking in and smuggling of human beings, in accordance with international obligations relating to refugee protection and, more broadly, human rights prof. Sara Poli 16
Global Approach to Migration • In 2005 the Council launches the Global Approach to Migration (GAMM) • ‘Migrant - centred’ approach • Not only cooperation on readmission but also opportunities for legal migration prof. Sara Poli 17
Possible content of MPs as far as legal opportunities of migration are concerned • Labour quotas reserved for the nationals of the third country in question • practical instruments to help match job offers in the Member State in question with job seekers in the third country concerned • facilitation of circular migration • measures designed to improve and/or ease the procedures for issuing short stay visas to nationals of the third country prof. Sara Poli 18
Implementation: ENP partners with MPs • First wave of MPs with Eastern neighbours: – Moldova (2008); Georgia (2009); Armenia (2011) • Second wave of MPs with Southern neighbours: – Morocco (2014); Jordan (2013); Tunisia (2014) • In 2016 a MP was signed with Belarus • Libya: bilateral agreement with Italy but no EU- wide agreement • Egypt has shown no interest prof. Sara Poli 19
Follow-up to MPs (Eastern neighbours) • Visa facilitation agreements and re-admission agreements were concluded with Eastern countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova; negotiation for both agreements is open with Belarus) • Visa-facilitation agreements facilitate the issuance of short-stay visas (i.e. no more than 90 days (within a period of 180 days) and multiple-entry visas; ensuring cheaper less bureaucratic procedures for certain categories of persons (e.g. family members, students, business people, journalists, scientists, etc..) prof. Sara Poli 20
Follow-up to MPs (Southern neighbours) • Neither a visa facilitation agreement, nor a readmission agreement were concluded with Southern neighbours as of 2017 However, • the negotiation for a visa facilitation agreement with Morocco was open in 2015 and with Tunisia in 2016 prof. Sara Poli 21
Further steps: visa liberalization action plans with Eastern neighbours • Ukraine (2010), Moldova (2011), Georgia (2013) • Aim: to set up a visa-free regime for selected categories of persons, subject to the fulfilment of benchmarks monitored by the EU; • The lifting of the visa is possible (but it is not automatic) if these countries fulfil the benchmarks prof. Sara Poli 22
EU Visa-free agreements with Moldova (2014), Georgia (2017) and Ukraine (2017) • Citizens of these countries with biometric passports travelling to the EU (and to Schengen-associated countries) for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, to visit relatives or friends, or for business purposes, but not to work are exempt from the obligation to have a visa (except in UK, Ireland and Denmark) prof. Sara Poli 23
Mobility-related provisions of the association agreement with Ukraine (2014) • Art. 17: Ukrainians workers have the right not be discriminated on the basis of nationality with respect to the working conditions compared to EU nationals; • Non-discrimination on social security is not included in the Treaty; • Spouses and children of legally employed do not have the right not be discriminated on the basis of their nationality prof. Sara Poli 24
Mobility-related provisions of the association agreement with Georgia (2014) and Moldova (2014) • These agreements do not contain provisions similar to those of Ukraine with respect the treatment of workers prof. Sara Poli 25
MPs in practice MPs are affected by a number of weaknesses: – The EU cannot impose on Member States to open-up their job market to third country nationals; it lacks competence to do so. – MPs are signed by some Member States but not by all; – mild commitment to facilitate legal migration: (MS commit to inform potential migrants on opportunities for legal migration; establish schemes for mutual recognition; opportunities for selected categories of persons) prof. Sara Poli 26
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