10. ACP-EU Migration Policy

This chapter, by German analyst Anna Knoll, examines migration in the relationship between the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union (EU) in the context of an evolving global debate on the links between migration and development. The chapter outlines the major patterns of global migration, while highlighting those most relevant to the ACP-EU relationship, and examines the differences between the ACP’s and the EU’s perspectives on South-South migration and North-South migration. As the chapter notes, although understanding of the migration-development nexus has increased in both the EU and the ACP, this was not reflected in the 2010 revision of the 2000 Cotonou Partnership Agreement, with tensions continuing between the two sides over migration management and the rights of migrants. Knoll further argues that migration and mobility have brought both opportunities and challenges for the ACP and the EU, and are likely to define future development dynamics in both regions. The EU needs to move beyond security-focused migration and better integrate the development aspects of migration into its relationship with the ACP, while the ACP for its part needs to pay greater attention to inter-regional cooperation for the management of intra-ACP migrant flows.