Integrating EU defence and migration policies in the Mediterranean

Unparalleled in scale and loss of life, the challenge of cross-Mediterranean migration to the European Union is rightly receiving much attention. Around 165,000 individuals have already crossed to Europe in 2014 so far, twice the figure for 2013. Yet this grave (and growing) humanitarian crisis has scarcely been tackled in policy terms, and the EU still lacks a clear approach to migration across its southern flank. Policy-makers have struggled even to conceptualise the challenge of cross-Mediterranean migration, let alone to identify the right mix of policy tools to cope with it.

This working paper argues that EU defence policies could help plug a major gap in the bloc’s approach to migration in the Mediterranean.