Towards the 2024 European elections: Cities and civil society as MEP key partners for a radical reform of EU migration policy

The promotion of a deep change in EU migration and asylum policies requires a new centrality for those actors, such as city governments and civil society organisations, that, while currently not pivotal in migration governance, have the desire and the ability to play a crucial role in such change. In the ongoing (and problematic) discussion of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, and in light of the upcoming 2024 European election, current and would-be members of the next European Parliament with a progressive agenda on migration may find a deeper knowledge of these actors, and a closer and more stable engagement with them, particularly fruitful.

This is especially the case in terms of strengthening the role of the progressive members of the European assembly in this subject matter. More specifically, current Members of the European Parliament and candidates at the 2024 European election who intend to deeply reform the existing EU approach to migration – in a way that is more inclined to ensure mobility, safety and human rights – should consider the opportunities offered by developing partnerships with city governments and civil society organisations that are already working together on the issue.

This approach could enable them to strengthen their connection within and across territories, to stimulate inter-institutional and inter-party cooperation and to spur the engagement of civil society in the EU policy arena, in an attempt to have an impact on the safeguarding of human rights and freedom of movement in the EU.

A cura di: Federico Alagna, Scuola Normale Superiore

Lingua: inglese