Responsibility sharing or shifting? Implications of the New Pact for future EU cooperation with third countries: Policy Study, Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and European Policy Centre

Following the adoption of the New Pact reforms, the external dimension of the EU's migration policy will acquire even greater relevance. With prospects of internal responsibility-sharing among member states remaining uncertain, limiting irregular arrivals and facilitating returns are being presented as essential preconditions to avoid putting pressure on national migration, asylum and reception systems. From this viewpoint, securing stable cooperation with third countries will be instrumental for the sustainability of the newly reformed Common European Asylum System (CEAS).
This policy study examines the external dimension of the recently adopted New Pact reforms, specifically the Asylum Procedures Regulation (APR) and the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR). The APR includes reformed provisions on safe country clauses that aim to facilitate returns. As for the AMMR, the reform includes a solidarity mechanism to support member states facing disproportionate responsibilities. Yet, the flexibility of this solidarity mechanism combined with the overall systemic priority of limiting pressure on national reception systems will likely translate into stronger incentives to use funding to contain irregular arrivals.
While the New Pact has manifold policy goals, the containment priorities pursued in the external dimension of the EU's migration policy may fail to reflect the interests of partner countries sufficiently. Instead of promoting more balanced cooperation at the international level, they could lead to further responsibility-shifting to third countries. At the same time, the reforms pay insufficient attention to fundamental rights. This could incentivise cooperation with countries with poor human rights records. Because these also tend to be unstable and unreliable partners, in terms of ensuring adequate protection standards and a genuine commitment to continued cooperation, the external dimension of migration policy might backfire on the EU's goal of achieving a more resilient and fairer CEAS, unless strong complementary measures are taken prior to and during the reforms' implementation.