This contributed volume examines the trend whereby the EU resorts ever more often to informal arrangements and deals with third countries in an effort to curb and manage migration flows towards the EU and facilitate the return of irregular migrants to their countries of origin or transit. The perceived success of the EU-Turkey deal provided a strong impetus for the continuation of this trend. 

The contributions collected and presented in this book aim to shed light on the implications of this trend for the EU constitutional order, the human rights of those affected by these deals, the third countries with which the EU cooperates, and the global refugee protection regime. They demonstrate how these deals raise more issues than they solve; by, for instance, sidestepping established Treaty rules and procedures, violating the human rights of those affected, and overburdening the nascent migration and asylum systems of third country partners. 

This book, the first volume to appear in the Global Europe Series, will be of great interest to researchers and policy makers working in the field of migration and asylum.

Eva Kassoti and Narin Idriz work in the Research Department of the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague.