Convergence, Competition or Complementarity? EU-Member States Cooperation on Mobility and Returns

Abstract

European Union (EU) external migration governance in the Southern Neighbourhood is shaped by variable patterns of interaction between the EU and its Member States (MS). Dynamics of competition, convergence and complementarity coexist across cooperation on legal mobility and returns, producing distinct configurations of external migration governance and shaping the EU’s bargaining power with third countries. Building on the ‘three Cs’ framework, nominal convergence is introduced as a distinct sub-pattern in which MS formally align with EU objectives while pursuing low-cost or politically safer measures that limit their substantive impact. Return cooperation is predominantly characterised by competition through de-coupled governance, as MS pursue bilateral arrangements alongside EU-level efforts. Mobility cooperation, by contrast, displays significant nominal convergence, with MS supporting EU objectives through limited capacity-building and information initiatives rather than substantive legal pathways. Complementarity emerges more selectively in both domains, where national instruments reinforce EU objectives. These dynamics shape the EU’s institutional migration power, with competition and nominal convergence weakening, and complementarity potentially reinforcing, its leverage vis-à-vis third countries.