With the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999, the European Union (EU) has been awarded important competences in the field of visa, asylum and immigration. Almost 15 years later, results achieved portray an imbalanced picture. Irregular migration and border management have received the strongest political support and therefore led to extremely important legal and operational developments. At the same time, the field of labour migration policies has faced a clear resistance of member states to transfer regulatory powers to the European institutions. However, significant developments towards a greater and stronger European governance in the field of labour migration policies could emerge from the implementation of new coordination mechanisms of economic and fiscal policies introduced as a result of the economic and financial crisis, in particular of the European Semester .

In this short working paper, Yves Pascouau, senior policy analyst at the EPC (European Policy Centre), a Brussels-based think-thank, outlines the past developments in the field of labour migration policies and reflects on the prospects that could open up with the strengthening of the new European governance tools in the fiscal, economic and employment policy fields.