Informalising Readmission Agreements in

th e E U N eigh b ou rh ood J ean- P ierre C assarino The conclusion of agreements linked to the readmission of migrants to their country of origin has gained momentum since the 19 9 0 s, p articularly follow ing the J une 20 0 2 S ev ille E urop ean C ouncil w hich called for stronger coop eration in this field w ith third ( or non- E U) countries. This trend reflects the fact that the issue of readmission is gradually p erv ading v arious p olicy areas, not only the migration and asy lum p olicy of the E U and its memb er states, b ut also their trade and dev elop ment aid p olicy, as w ell as their international relations. R eadmission agreements are concluded to facilitate the remov al or ex p ulsion of p ersons w ho do not or no longer fulfil the conditions of entry to, p resence in or residence 1 in a destination country. P ersons to b e readmitted [ or remov ed] under such agreements are a country s ow n nationals and, under certain conditions, third- country nationals or stateless p ersons w h