The new European migration policy seeks to serve the EU's own interests rather than that of migrant workers, claim the authors – and thus the policy developed since 2002 has focused on illegal migration, border control, the management of migration and asylum and the fight against terrorism, rather than the rights of Mediterranean migrants in Europe.
Doukouré and Oger believe that the Commission's policy specifically targets attention and funds to countries such as Turkey and Morocco in order to try to stop migration in these transit countries, rather than adopting the approach of the Mediterranean countries themselves, which links development with migration – in keeping with World Bank and European Parliament opinion.
The authors claim that the EU's external policy of migration attempts to "Europeanise" the countries geographically closest to Europe by employing diverse regional approaches, rather than encouraging "global and homogenous regionalisation".
The study concludes by suggesting that Mediterranean countries develop "efficient and united south-south regional frameworks" in order to take part in discussions with the EU with "a unified voice".
However, before this regionalisation can be achieved, increased unity between the Med-MENA countries themselves is required, add the authors.
