Samenvatting

The surge of the interest in the migration-development nexus and the sheer "euphoria" about the potential positive impact of migration on development in origin countries, has also entered EU - level politics on migration. Yet it seems unbelievable that only about one decade ago the effects of migration on development have been viewed to be of negative nature. Considering that a reversal of the MDN paradigm from scepticism to euphoric optimism took place, this dissertation aims to answer the question why and how the MDN paradigm has changed so suddenly. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of the migration-development nexus the dissertation illuminated its paradigm from three different angles: firstly, the theoretical perspectives and policy measures concerning the positioning of migration in development cooperation were assessed. Secondly, it was examined how and why the MDN entered the centre stage of the international attention, identifying as well the main argumentation lines within the debate. Thirdly, the emergence and development of the MDN within EU External Migration Policy was investigated by applying a discourse analysis of EU documents.
The dissertation reveals that numerous factors, ranging from certain external events to general developments such as the improvement of communication technologies, have played a role in the development of the migration-development nexus in the international debate as well as in European politics. Furthermore, the paradigm change of the nexus within EU policies shows certain parallels to the argumentation lines presented by international organisations. This suggests that the EU has been "pushed" to incorporate migration-development related issues on the Migration Policy agenda.
Although the greatest attention was drawn to "remittances" up to now, as it is the most tangible and measurable of the developmental impacts, the other elements of the migration-development nexus are nowadays considered to be of equal importance. The "brain drain" debate has turned into a "brain gain" debate as the significance of social remittances was acknowledged. Next to the concepts of "brain circulation" and "circular migration" to promote international knowledge and skill transfer, a new dimension of the nexus, namely the role of "diaspora" and "transnational communities" has been explored. Yet, the discourse analysis reveals that the EU maintains security-centred in its approach of the nexus within partnerships with third countries. However, the events of the Arab Spring have provoked a further integration of the linkage between migration and development. This could be an important step towards partnership agreements that are beneficial as well for the origin countries.