An EU Sustainable Migration: Institutional Discourse and Migration Politics

Abstract

From 2015 to 2016 onwards, migration has been subjected to intense political contestation within EU Member States. In this context, sustainable migration has become the new overarching objective of the Commission. Despite the various references to sustainable migration, a closer investigation of EU migration law and policy does not provide a coherent picture of the legal implications of this concept. This article examines the links between sustainability and migration in EU law and policy and suggests that sustainable migration should be perceived as a political concept that was central for EU migration politics following the so‐called migration crisis. Sustainable migration is a powerful tool at the hands of the Commission and has been used to forge consensus between Member States that might profoundly disagree on the future of EU migration. At the same time, the concept offers little guidance in terms of legal obligations for the protection of migrants.