The project is centred around two interlinked objectives. The first is to assess the policy experience and potential future trajectories of EU-Mediterranean dialogue focusing on the field of borders and migration. This will take place in terms of a stock-taking of the achievements as well as shortcomings and future perspectives of EU-MED regional cooperation that reflects the political and cultural limits of the EU¿s influence. This objective will also target the definition of new policy roles for the EU and neighbouring countries based on a productive understanding of the EU¿s (geo)political identity and potential actorness both regionally and more globally.
The second objective of this project is to conduct empirical research (quantitative data analysis, qualitative approaches) on the topic of migration in the EU Mediterranean area in order to advance policy and governance centered solutions that could better deal with the current issues associated to migration. The project also aims to advise on how to be better prepared for possible future events that may force individuals to migrate. The study will create and offer new theoretical underpinnings to the current debate on migration as well as new empirical knowledge. The findings of the project are to be used to propose a new understanding of migration and how it relates to the coherence of current EU laws and policies.
This research assesses the effectiveness of policies and social impact across the Mediterranean shores, and in so doing it intends to go far beyond merely comparing bilateralism and regionalism. Our project provides contributions that are relevant for the European Agenda on Migration (European Commission 2015a), where new initiatives including the development of the CEAS (Common European Asylum System), shared management of the European border, and development of a new model of legal migration are mentioned as future steps of development.
Moreover, this research will pay particular attention to the representations of the Mediterranean that influence Mediterranean policies and the scopic regime they create. In terms of the overall expected impact of our research, it will provide sound insights into the major limits regarding EU cooperation in the Mediterranean region, as well as the key advances and remaining challenges in the political, economic and cultural relationships between the EU and its neighbours. Furthermore, this central objective will be the cumulative product of a research programme that strives to maximise its academic, policy-oriented, educational and wider societal impact. In keeping with the overall goals of the project, it will establish a cohesive research agenda for more holistic analysis of EU external polices presently dealt with in a highly fragmented manner. In doing this, the project will improve the state-of-the-art and make demonstrable progress towards innovative research in terms of methodology, data, and significant coverage at a regional and international scale. The project can be expected to develop scientific research beyond the state-of-the-art and narrow the gap between `conventional¿ research on regional cooperation and EU actorness and more interdisciplinary approaches. This project will also promote cooperation between social science disciplines (e.g., demography, political science, international relations, cultural and political geography and economics).
To develop its academic excellence beyond the state-of-the-art and add to its scientific impact, the project aims to
-generate new empirical knowledge on issues central to the EU¿s migration policy as outlined in the European Agenda on Migration (European Commission 2015a),
-develop interdisciplinary research methodologies and apply methodologies from other fields (border studies, postcolonial studies) to the study of migration,
- examine research areas that have been understudied and bring new perspectives on themes and issues central to the field,
- develop and clarify theoretical issues pertinent to migration studies,
- reflect on migration management as a concept and develop it towards a migrant-centred and holistic direction,
- present policy recommendations that are based on high-level empirical research, and
- locate migration to Europe in global and transnational contexts to underline the global impact of the project.
Throughout the research, the project links policy-oriented goals with scientific aims to enable empirically validated policy recommendations.