From discourse to practice: the circulation of norms, ideas and practices of migration management through the implementation of the mobility partnerships in Moldova and Georgia

Abstract

This research wishes to contribute to the understanding of the migration policy regime of the European Union (EU), by considering an analytical perspective that privileges the standpoint of the countries of its neighbourhood. As an entry point, we have focused our analysis on the Mobility Partnership, a policy instrument of soft power, representative of the emblematic network governance privileged by the EU in its current political framework, the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM). Applying an “instrument approach”, our research raises the question of the role played by the Mobility Partnership in the circulation of norms, ideas and practices related to the “good governance” of international migration, and whether these are internalized by the partner third countries. We present the results of a comparative analysis of two study-cases, Moldova and Georgia, countries considered by the European Commission as the “best pupils” in the implementation of their Mobility Partnerships, with the ambition to interrogate whether this instrument leads to a “common understanding” between the EU and the national actors that may lead to a translation of the European objectives in the field of migration into the registries of practices in the countries of the Eastern neighbourhood. Lastly, we will discuss the strategic “usage” of this instrument from the partner third countries, that can lead to different results, from complete absorption of the objectives, to resistance in their implementation.