The EU Council Presidency has circulated a draft revised action file on Nigeria, setting out specific objectives and actions for EU and Member State cooperation on migration, ahead of the MOCADEM Roundtable scheduled for 29 September 2023. The document, dated 9 July 2026, outlines ten actions covering political dialogue, root causes of irregular migration, legal pathways, anti-smuggling, border management, protection, readmission, and reintegration, with concrete deadlines in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
The draft action file is structured around three specific objectives: addressing root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement; strengthening operational cooperation on organised crime, migrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings, border management, and forced displacement management; and enhancing cooperation on returns. A first progress report is due in the first half of 2024.
Action 1 calls for preparing a migration component for the 8th EU-Nigeria Ministerial Dialogue scheduled for October 2023, building on commitments from the 2020 Ministerial Dialogue and the 2016 Migration Partnership Agreement. Action 2 notes a senior official meeting tentatively on 5-6 October and a Ministerial Meeting on 19 October in Abuja, addressing migration and mobility.
Action 3 supports job creation using Team Europe Initiatives on Atlantic/Western Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean routes, with Nigeria having expressed interest in a Talent Partnership with voluntary Member States. Action 4 promotes legal migration pathways via education and research exchanges, also exploring a Talent Partnership. Action 5 promotes existing mobility initiatives, including the “Digital explorer” project phase II (funded under HOMEAMIF/MPF, EUR 3.5 million), and calls for mapping Member State activities and expectations by Q1 2024.
Action 6 focuses on strengthening police cooperation against trafficking and smuggling, enhancing Frontex action, and supporting the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Agency for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons (NAPTiP). It includes regional action covering ECOWAS, its members and Mauritania (EUR 34 million) and a national project on Support to Migration Governance in Nigeria (EUR 28 million). Action 7 enhances support for protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Nigeria, including funding to UNHCR. Action 8 is redacted.
Action 9 provides on-the-spot support for Member States’ readmission cooperation via EURLO and EMLO, and schedules a second Frontex-led return operation to Nigeria in Q4 2023. Action 10 continues support and reintegration projects, including the MPRR-SSA programme (EUR 180 million, 1 August 2022 – 31 July 2024) and the national programme “Support to migration governance” (EUR 28.4 million, adopted April 2023). A roundtable on reintegration is planned for Q4 2023.
The annex contains common messages highlighting the EU-Nigeria partnership, stressing job creation and capacity building, recalling trust built during negotiations, pointing to funding for protection, reintegration, and border management, supporting capacity building against smuggling and trafficking, signalling availability of Europol and Frontex, and sharing the need for information campaigns on risks of irregular migration.
The draft action file is a comprehensive work plan for EU and Member State cooperation with Nigeria, with concrete deadlines in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. The MOCADEM Roundtable on 29 September 2023 will discuss the draft before finalisation.