Migration between West Africa and Europe has become a key political issue in both regions over recent years. Since the Valletta summit in November 2015 and the German ‘2017 Year of Africa’ at the latest, Europe has focussed on bilateral concepts with individual African countries, primarily aimed at reducing the number of migrants in the short-term. There is a general reluctance to engage in any extensive discussions about the underlying structural challenges of a forward-looking and coherent migration policy or to recognise the interests of the African position. Particularly within the context of the EU-AU summit held in Abidjan at the end of November 2017, this has led to some irritation in the relationship, all the more so since the African participants are insisting on the implementation of long agreed regulations on migration and mobility, e.g. within the framework of the Joint African European Strategy (JAES) and the last EU-Africa Summit in Brussels in 2014.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) and the Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research (KHK / GCR21) at the University of Duisburg-Essen have developed scenarios for migration flows between West Africa and Europe with the aim of providing a stimulus for further scientific research in this area, as well as making a constructive contribution to the political debate and offering potential approaches for a forward-looking and mutually beneficial migration policy. At three workshops held between June and November in Berlin, Dakar and Brussels, around 30 West African and European experts have developed scenarios using the Shell Method.
This book summarises the results of these three meetings. The scenarios are accompanied by short contributions by some of the participants who relate individual experiences and impressions in a variety of ways. The authors are expressing their own personal views that do not necessarily reflect views of their institutions or FES / KHK respectively.
On 20 November 2017 the scenarios were presented during an event at the European Parliament. The scenarios were also presented on 23 November 2017 in the run-up to the EU-Africa summit in Abidjan. Further discussions and briefings about the scenarios are also planned for 2018 in Germany as well as other European and West African countries.

(From the Editorial)