VALLETTA 2015 TO ABIDJAN 2017: RECENT TRENDS IN AU–EU MIGRATION RELATIONS

The document analyzes the divergent priorities between the EU, which focuses on stemming irregular migration and border control, and African nations, which prioritize development, employment, and legal mobility. It critiques the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) for using aid conditionality to secure readmission agreements and argues that a lack of AU consensus, combined with restrictive bilateral agreements, hinders a coherent continental approach to migration.

• There is a significant mismatch in migration priorities between the two continents: the EU focuses on "stemming irregular migration, tackling smugglers and traffickers’ business models and re-admission," while African countries emphasize "building resilience and employment in sending countries, addressing development concerns, and harnessing remittances."
• The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) has a total pledge of EUR 10.31 billion, with 60% of the Valletta Action Plan's overall funding and 50% of its initiatives dedicated to "addressing root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement."
• The EUTF is criticized for using development assistance as a tool for migration control, employing "greater conditionality to secure third-country commitments on readmission and border control," which shifts the focus toward donor policy outcomes rather than Africa's actual development needs.
• Efforts to create a unified African position on migration within the UN Global Compact for Migration (GCM) have failed due to "competing and conflicting regional and national interests," including the fact that some countries benefit from remittances while others, such as South Africa and Kenya, "support stricter border controls."
• The EU has pursued bilateral "mobility partnerships" and border-management programmes in countries including Morocco, Tunisia, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan to reduce irregular flows to Europe, which the author argues may compromise broader AU initiatives.
• The author recommends that the AU and EU establish legitimate migration pathways based on education and employment, implement vocational training for semi-skilled migrants, and reduce the "militarised interventions by EU members" by decreasing the conditionality linked to development aid.

APA

Parshotam, A. (2017). VALLETTA 2015 TO ABIDJAN 2017: RECENT TRENDS IN AU–EU MIGRATION RELATIONS. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-168.pdf

Chicago

Parshotam, Asmita. VALLETTA 2015 TO ABIDJAN 2017: RECENT TRENDS IN AU–EU MIGRATION RELATIONS. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-168.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parshotam |first1=Asmita |title=VALLETTA 2015 TO ABIDJAN 2017: RECENT TRENDS IN AU–EU MIGRATION RELATIONS |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-168.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parshotam2017valletta, author = {Parshotam, Asmita}, title = {{VALLETTA 2015 TO ABIDJAN 2017: RECENT TRENDS IN AU–EU MIGRATION RELATIONS}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-168.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }