Research Papers

While cooperation with third countries can contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the internal dimension of the EU immigration policy, the level of internal harmonization may condition the EU's possibilities to develop a coherent and efficient external action on migration. This paper is thus aimed to account for the mutual interaction between the internal and external dimension of the EU immigration policy, both substantively and institutionally. Is the EU able to obtain the necessary collaboration of third countries in the control of irregular immigration without offering them legal migration opportunities in return? How could the EU facilitate a better access to the Member States' territory in the absence of common internal conditions for admission? Is the optional character of most EU directives on immigration and integration an efficient way to attain the objectives of the European immigration policy? Is the normative softness, inherent to the new instruments of the ‘global approach to migration’, the most suitable path to establish a fruitful cooperation with third countries on matters dealing with migrants' rights? The analysis of the EU competences enshrined in article 79 of the TFEU, as well as of their internal and external developments, will allow us to respond to some of these questions, revealing the inconsistencies of the past and the future challenges of this essential component of the EU area of freedom, security and justice.