Policy brief series: EU-AU migration governance

Migration remains a central yet contested issue in AU-EU relations. While the African Union views migration as a potential driver of development, integration, and mobility rights, the EU prioritises security, control, and returns. 

This policy brief calls for pragmatic collaboration that bridges divergences. By fostering rights-based, development-orientated governance, migration can turn from a point of friction into a shared opportunity for progress.

Return policies have become the cornerstone of AU-EU relations. But despite large investments, enforcement rates remain low, while conditionality on aid or visas to achieve return agreements undermines trust, and weakens human rights protections.

This policy brief argues for a recalibration of AU-EU migration governance from coercion toward cooperation. Rights and accountability must be embedded at its core, as well as investment in regularisation, functional reintegration support and labour mobility pathways.

Multilateralism is increasingly threatened by rising nationalism, geopolitical tensions, and shrinking commitments to cooperation. AU-EU migration governance has since drifted from a shared development priority towards a highly politicised, securitised battleground, resulting in weakened global conventions, aid and budget cuts and eroding trust in global frameworks.

This policy brief calls for a reset: multilateralism must be revitalised through renewed commitments, inclusive governance, and sustainable financing.