EU-Externalization of migration policies through non-state actors? NGOs/CSOs in Tunisia and Egypt

Paolo Cuttitta (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; ICES Research Fellow)

Termin: 14. November 2018, 15.15 - 16.45

Ort: EUF, Gebäude RIGA 6, Raum 601

Paolo Cuttita is affiliated researcher at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is ICES Visiting Fellow from 01.10. until 14.12.18.

In this lecture, Paolo Cuttitta will present findings from his current research on EU-Externalization of migration policies through non-state actors at the example of Tunisia and Egypt. He will provide an overview of non-governmental/civil society organizations (NGOs/CSOs) operating in Tunisia and Egypt in the field of migration, and the relevant activities, to point out analogies and differences in the two contexts. He will outline the relationship between the activities of these groups and the concept of EU-externalization. Indeed, while academic literature has long engaged with the role of international organizations (IOs) in processes of EU-externalization (Bartels 2017; Lavenex 2016; Wunderlich 2012), the role of NGOs/CSOs remains largely under-researched. While acknowledging the involvement of NGOs/CSOs in processes of EU-externalization, his research tries to shed light on the broader picture, to avoid the risks of Euro-centric and univocal, simplistic approaches. The findings are drawn from two fieldwork periods carried out in Tunisia (2016) and Egypt (2017).