Migration and regional interdependence in the Mediterranean, from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s

Abstract

This article discusses the way in which migration in the Mediterranean area has affected relations between European states and other Mediterranean states. It is based on the archives of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, the Council of Europe, as well as on documents of the Presidency of the French Republic at the time of François Mitterrand. The main argument developed is that migration in the Mediterranean, from the South and the East to the North, intensified from the early 1980s onwards, creating interdependence in the region. Northern states initially tried to stop these migration flows. However, they quickly also had to consider a more comprehensive approach to address the causes of migration. In this way, the article explains a fundamental dynamic at the origin of the Barcelona Process in the mid-1990s.