The Political Economy of European Migration Management

In the context of neoliberal hegemony, the neofunctionalist theory of European integration has become an ideology that has significantly contributed to the technocratisation of European policymaking as exemplified by European migration management. While neofunctionalism was originally developed to embed a regulated model of capitalism in Western Europe, it has equally served to legitimate the neoliberal turn in European integration that occurred following the Single European Act of 1986. Its technocratic vision of governance is instrumental to authoritarian neoliberalism by portraying the neoliberalisation of European integration as inescapable. It thus narrows the scope of political alternatives, while increasing the distance between policymakers and the populace, thereby contributing to the declining public support for the European project. After outlining this hypothesis, the paper will discuss its materialisation in European migration management. Migration control illustrates the self-contradictory nature of neoliberalism, which simultaneously promotes open borders and ‘border management’. The embedding of the neofunctionalist, neoliberal integration agenda in the area of migration required the generation of a shared outlook on migration. This was achieved by means of a common technical language that is understood by ‘epistemic communities’ and policymakers throughout the EU. The creation of the EU as an ‘area of freedom, security and justice’ has been justified as a logical continuation of the integration process. Moreover, the relocation of border responsibilities to third countries in the context of the policy of ‘integrated border management’ is another instance of neofunctionalist policymaking, as it is framed as an example of spillover from the Schengen Agreement.