The EU-AU Joint Valletta Migration Policy: Mapping out the Policy Making Process of the Joint Valetta Action Plan

Abstract This thesis explores the policymaking process of the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) on migration involving the European Union and the African Union signed in November 2015 in Valletta, Malta. Its aim is to uncover the factors that influenced the policymaking process of this agreement. It does so by unpacking the policy process through policy discourse analysis specifically the argumentative turn of policy analysis (Fischer & Gottweis, 2012). It is argued that interests played a crucial role for both actors. The EU was driven by security or territorial integrity whereas the Africa Union focused on the appropriation of funds for its socio-economic development during the deliberation of policy alternatives. The idea of shared responsibility which underpinned the final policy document, the JVAP conveys vulnerability interdependence, a type of interest-based explanation as the ultimate motive of the agreement. In this, the JVAP is both an expression of continuity and change. There is continuity because the interests formulated by both parties remained the same as in previous policy initiatives. There is change because, for the first time, they officially recognized their interdependence and formulated concrete actions.