Mobility partnerships between the European Union (EU) and third countries are usually viewed as reflecting asymmetric power relations where development aid, trade relations and visa policies are made conditional upon the cooperation by third countries with an EU agenda of migration control. Drawing on Cassarino's notion of 'reversed conditionality', this article advocates a more balanced view of EU-third country relations and argues that mobility partnerships are also instrumentalised as part of the domestic agendas of third countries. The argument is illustrated by an analysis of the case of EU-Morocco relations with a specific focus on the National Strategy for Immigration and Asylum in Morocco. The analysis illustrates how soft law instruments such as mobility partnerships have significant legal and political implications for third countries and can provide important external support for the development and implementation of national political priorities.
The Mobility Partnerships between the European Union and third countries have a negative image as they are often viewed as a tool of migration control rather than a flexible instrument to enhance mobility. Yet so far scholars have predominantly investigated the asymmetric negotiation of Mobility Partnerships as well as their limited consequences for migrant rights in EU Member States. What is often overlooked is that these partnerships can also influence the development of the legal and policy frameworks of third countries in ways that go beyond what is foreseen at the time of the negotiation of the instruments. This article combines a comparative legal analysis of the development of the legal frameworks in Morocco and Cape Verde with an empirical study of the implementation of Mobility Partnerships’ projects in relation to national migration strategies. The analysis demonstrates that Mobility Partnerships, despite their non-binding nature, have legal and policy relevance for these third countries with regard to the regulation of migration, asylum, human trafficking and even labour law.
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