This article focuses on the policy tools that make up the external dimension of migration policies (EXMIPO) in Europe.
Going beyond the study of EU-level dynamics, it offers an analytical framework for unpacking member states’ EXMIPO, and grounds such framework in original empirical material. Specifically, the article focuses on the case of Italy, and provides the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of the country’s EXMIPO through the analysis of its policy tools. Building on an original dataset spanning over 30 years and 125 instruments, it aims to open the ‘black box’ of the country’s EXMIPO in the broader Mediterranean, investigating how and to what extent Italy cooperated with countries of origin and transit in the management of migration. Overall, the article argues that the external dimension of MS’ migration policy is far richer than what one may initially expect. It demonstrates that the external dimension of Italy’s migration policy is based on a combination of tools that prioritise the control of irregular migration, particularly through political dialogue and operational agreements. From the immediate neighbourhood, Italy’s EXMIPO has gradually extended well beyond its geographical borders, while regularly relying on the use of conditionalities, particularly in the form of quota schemes.
Matilde Rosina is Lecturer in International Relations in the School of PPL at the University of East Anglia. Matilde is also the Deputy Director of the Centre for Italian Politics at King’s College London, and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. Matilde's research focuses on international political economy and migration, with specific reference to the European context. She obtained her PhD in International Political Economy from King's College London in 2020, having been awarded the King’s Outstanding Thesis Prize. Her monograph on ‘The criminalisation of irregular migration in Europe’ was published in 2022 by Palgrave Macmillan.