Secrecy and the externalisation of EU migration control

Since the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum was unveiled in September 2020, significant public and policy attention has been paid to the raft of new and recycled legal measures proposed. However, the Pact also includes a range of activities that do not undergo the same institutional to-and-fro as passing new laws.

To "operationalise" the Pact, the Council of the EU, European Commission, EU member states and EU agencies are quietly extending collaboration with third countries on border and migration control, with little public oversight or transparency. Hundreds of millions of euros are likely to be awarded for these efforts to shore up border control and migration management infrastructure, joint law enforcement operations, EU involvement in third countries’ policy and training procedures, and high-level diplomatic engagement.

For the last six months, supported by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Statewatch has been using freedom of information and access to documents requests to investigate the "operationalisation" of the Pact in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Morocco and Niger. Join us to hear about the findings of this research and for a discussion with a distinguished panel of speakers:

• Tineke Strik (MEP, Greens/EFA)
• Luisa Izuzquiza (freedom of information activist and Brussels Lead at FragDenStaat)
• Giacomo Zandonini (journalist)