The EU Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM): Evidence-Based Policy? a Theoretical and Empirical Assessment

The Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) was introduced by the European Commission in 2011 bringing to the table a new policy component: mobility, vaguely characterised as "a broader concept than migration", which signalled the intent to better manage circulation for foreign nationals who may want to visit the EU for short periods as visitors or family members but also as students, business people or even short-term workers. The idea of mobility builds on the assumption that circular immigration can be a mutually beneficial strategy serving both the EU's economic interests (labour force) and the country of origin (by avoiding "brain drain"). This paper aims to address the potential and limitations of the strategy of circularity from a micro-perspective (that of the migrants and potential migrants) rather than from the macro (policy) perspective dominant in the GAMM's policy arguments. The paper first assesses the circularity strategy from the point of view of different migration theories that provide different understandings and expectations about return and circulation. Second, we explore empirically some of these expectations to consider (1) the feasibility of circular migration as a migrant's strategy and (2) the limits and implications of a policy strategy based on circularity and temporal migration from a micro-level point of view. We use evidence from (1) register data from various European countries, (2) surveys in destination countries and (3) surveys in countries of origin with returnees and potential migrants. We consider migrants generally, paying specific attention to low-skilled and high-skilled workers.