587 Ricard Zapata-Barrero The external dimension of migration policy in the Mediterranean region: premises for normative debate THE EXTERNAL DIMENSION OF MIGRATION POLICY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION: PREMISES FOR NORMATIVE DEBATE 1: INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE In recent years, policies relating to the management of migration flows have taken a new direction, based on an external dimension that entails the implementation, by destination countries, of policies to manage migratory flows beyond their borders. For some time now, the European Union has been drawing a clear distinction between the control of land borders and the control of migration flows. Little by little, the two, which were initially used almost interchangeably, have grown further and further apart by force of circumstance. There seems to be a clear logic to this argument: “before migrants come and ask to be let in, it is better to prevent them from leaving”. Images of Ceuta and Melilla, the Canary Islands and, more explicitly and large-scale, what happened in Lampedusa in October 2013 – an unacceptable boat tragedy that resulted in the death of more than 200 people, partly on account of the inhumane requirements of Italian law which discourages locals from helping migrants in distress - also demonstrate the political difficulty of defining boundaries that are both national (Italian) and European. As R. Zapata-Barrero already pointed out in 2007, in the case of Spain, state management of European borders poses conceptual and policy challenges which evidence the contradictions between policy practices for the management of human mobility and the very foundation of the state’s foreign policy. If we are to review the institutional framework contextualising our starting point, we should begin with the conclusions of the Tampere Summit of 1999, which aimed to develop common policies with countries of origin, create a common European asylum system, introduce measures to ensure the fair treatment of third-country nationals and manage migratory flows. The official conclusions outlined a global approach to migration, and can be considered a milestone in the development of a common migration policy. The full report stressed the importance of preventing and addressing the root causes of migration and therefore paved the way for placing greater emphasis on the external aspects of migration. The main objective of this approach is to link the internal migration cooperation policies of the countries of origin and transit, including political, economic, development and human rights matters. Therefore, it was internal migration policy that justified the need for external action.
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