Since the 'refugee crisis' crossed the frontiers of Europe, a common EU-African agenda of dealing with the challenges of migration has visibly gained in importance for policy stakeholders on the two continents. In 2015, more than 60 heads of states and government met in Valetta for the first summit between the EU and Africa solely dedicated to the topic of migration. In reality however, consultations go back at least a decade with common approaches addressed on a bilateral, regional and continental level. What can we learn from these approaches and how do they diverge from actual practices? This paper sketches out a comprehensive picture of the different policy approaches developed by the EU, EU-African and African institutions, by analysing over 100 policy documents on migration from the respective institutions and 100 European Trust Fund Projects. The paper shows that despite rhetorical similarities, interests divert, especially when it comes to how to address migration. Moreover, when it comes to the EU-practice a clear prioritisation of returns and migration management tools can be seen, which in parts contradicts their rhetoric calling for legal migration. Taken together, the interests of the EU and African institutions are diverging – and perhaps increasingly so – and the rhetoric does not always match up with the practice. At worst, this risks further fragmenting a thus-far incoherent approach on migration.
