591 Ricard Zapata-Barrero The external dimension of migration policy in the Mediterranean region: premises for normative debate Our most immediate goal is to delimit the category of “externalisation of policies” (and its related notions). This categorisation will be carried out through three main complementary steps. The first step is conceptual, and has the basic purpose of defining the notion of “externalisation” with reference to immigration policy (section 1.1). As a second step, and situating the study within the current debate, the main research focus will be outlined, proposing two main approaches (section 1.2). Finally, the third step will be more empirically-oriented. This last phase is aimed at delimiting the notion of “externalisation” through a set of policy practices (section 1.3). 1.1 Definition: what does “externalisation” mean in defining an immigration policy? Traditionally a core aspect of state sovereignty, immigration control began by moving up to the inter-governmental level. It was then brought closer to supra-national governance and is now gradually moving out towards the realm of EU foreign relations5. Without entering the debate on whether extra-territorial control is a new phenomenon or a new step in an old process of cross-governmental cooperation logic6, what can be said is that the notion refers to a set of political practices with diverse, yet inter-related conceptualisations, emphasising different aspects of these shared practices. All perhaps come under the common umbrella of designing governance and policy extension beyond borders, between at least two countries sharing a specific asymmetrical relationship, not only in terms of power and socio-economic disparities, but also in their capacities to politically-respond to the same phenomenon: the movement of people between one country and the other. A number of phenomena are grouped under the category of “externalisation”7. a) Elements of the domestic system that have international implications, such as the creation of camps for different types of migrants, outside and inside borders. b) Increased emphasis on external borders and on the fight against illegal immigration, such as border control measures, the construction of fences, patrols, and so on. c) Measures for the repatriation of “illegal” migrants, re-admission agreements, and means of transport to third countries (for example, group flights). d) Proposals for the processing of asylum claims outside the European territory, 5 LAVENEX, Sandra “Shifting Up and Out: The Foreign Policy of European Immigration Control”, West European Politics, vol. 29, no. 2, 2006, pp. 329-350. 6 LAVENEX, Sandra, “Politics of Exclusion and Inclusion in the Wider Europe”, in De Bardeleben, J. (ed.) Soft or Hard Borders? Managing the Divide in an Enlarged Europe, London, Ashgate, 2005, pp. 123–144. 7 DEBENEDETTI, Sara, Externalization of European asylum and migration policies. Florence: School on Euro-Mediterranean Migration and Development, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, 2009.
REVISTA IEEE 2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above