National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus
Sandra Lavenex and Joachim Blatter
Migration Governance through Trade Mobilities
Project Summary
International trade and migration are two important facets of an increasingly interconnected world, yet the links between trade and migration policies remain little researched. States have progressively used trade agreements to govern different aspects of international migration, such as facilitating international mobility, strengthening migration control, or protecting migrant rights.
Firstly, we study the drivers and configuration of migration provisions in trade agreements worldwide. For this purpose, we compile a comprehensive database of migration-related content in preferential trade agreements since 1960. Secondly, our project assesses how migration provisions in trade agreements are implemented in national immigration regimes and how they create privileges or disadvantages for different migrants and people on the move through case studies. We focus on four developed economies, two of which belong to a regional economic community and two in the same region which do not: Germany (EU), Switzerland, Singapore (ASEAN), and Japan.
Migration clauses in trade agreements have proliferated over time; today, around 80 % of all newly concluded PTAs contain migration clauses.
Provisions facilitating mobility are driven by economic interests and internationalized industries; they occur most frequently between wealthy countries.
The EU has used PTAs as leverage for migration control vis-à-vis neighboring countries.
The impact of PTAs on migration laws depends on the context: at the EU level, migration harmonization is facilitated by trade obligations and discourse.
In Switzerland, PTAs provide important exceptions to a restrictive immigration system; in Singapore, migration law is already geared to short-term, business migrants, and so PTAs are less important.
