The EU and its Southern Partners - between Idealism and Realism : Differences in EU skilled migration policy regarding the Tunisian and Egyptian administrations

Abstract: The ‘race for talent’ on the global labor market is an increasingly discussed subject amongst EU policymakers. Skilled migration schemes have therefore been on the rise. By using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA), the paper analyses 12 documents published by the EU between 2009 and 2021 regarding skilled migration. The theoretical framework the discussion is entrenched in is the ethical political spectrum reaching over political idealism and realism. Within the EU, migration policy is described to have an idealist character, with free movement and clear democratic values. Towards its neighboring countries, it is less clear where the EU stands in terms thereof. Dissecting EU skilled migration schemes and discourse hopes to locate EU foreign policy on that spectrum more clearly. An additional question to this main research topic is whether the EU adjusts its migration policies according to the governments of the countries of origin. As two increasingly important countries of origin for skilled migrants, the examples of Tunisia and Egypt were chosen. The analysis exemplifies thereby the EU’s approach to a democratic and an authoritarian government. The selection of the documents was therefore guided by their link to those countries.The study found that though the EU does not overtly discriminate against non-democratic forms of government in the context of skilled migration, they nonetheless organize their relations with third countries in a hierarchical manner. This entails certain privileges for countries committed to democratic values. Moreover, the EU skilled migration policy is found to be neither distinctly realist nor idealist. Instead, an overview of the different components of EU skilled migration policy and places them on the political ethical spectrum is provided.