Mobility partnerships. In spite of the incentives that are at the EU’s disposal, the effective conclusion of readmission agreements remains rather limited. Many emigration or transit countries are reluctant to take up the unbalanced readmission commitments in the absence of sufficient commitments by the EU. The EU’s migration management therefore needed a new tool to enhance its cooperation with target countries. The 2005 Global Approach to Migration (hereinafter GAM) called for the “need in the short-term for broad-ranging concrete actions”. The GAM initially targets Africa and the Mediterranean after the human disaster that occurred in September 2005 in Ceuta and Melilla, two enclaves on the coast of Morocco and pertaining to Spain. Hundreds or thousands138 of migrants attempted to cross Spain’s land borders. Figures indicate up to 14 casualties. The EU leaders recognized the growing problems with illegal migration and met in October 2005 at the Hampton Court that preceded the eventual GAM adopted by the European Council. The Commission one year GAM evaluation139 introduces Mobility Packages as a concrete action and sets these as an objective that could be agreed “once conditions have been met, such as cooperation on illegal migration and effective mechanisms for readmission”. The Commission also suggests to expand the GAM to other regions such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The idea is that Mobility Partnerships provide a political framework - and is as such not legally binding - for initiatives to manage migration “while fully respecting the division of competences as provided by the Treaty”. The competences of the Member States in the area of legal migration will accordingly not be affected. The legal nature of Mobility Partnerships is therefore inevitably very complex as some elements will fall under Community competence and other elements under Member State competence. Ensuring the division of competences also means that the Partnerships are accessible ‘à la carte’. The Member States can choose whether they wish to engage in these partnerships. This opt-in approach hampers consistency and coherence. Mobility Partnerships, in providing a framework lend themselves to a very new approach. They offer the possibility to combine both legal and illegal immigration “to develop a balanced partnership with third countries adapted to specific EU Member States’ labour market needs” and explore “ways and 138 Depending on the source. 139 The global approach to migration one...
