The Externalisation of the EU's Labour Immigration Policy – Towards Mobility or Insecurity Partnerships? CEPS Working Document No. 321, October 2009, Centre for European Policy Studies. Also available at

This paper looks at the dynamics affecting the external dimensions of the EU’s labour immigration policy. It assesses the role and functions of mobility partnerships as a mechanism for governing circular migration schemes that allow the temporary movement of individuals for employment purposes between EU member states and non-EU countries. The paper argues that given the actual origins, rationale, conditional nature and kinds of circular migration policies advocated by these partnerships, they should be considered ‘security ’ partnerships for the participating EU member states and to a limited extent for the non-EU countries. At the same time, they could be regarded as ‘insecurity ’ partnerships for the coherency and legitimacy of the EU’s labour immigration policy, as well as the liberty and security of the third-country workers. CEPS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within CEPS research programmes and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed are attributable only to the authors in a personal capacity and not to any institution with which they are associated