This study analyses some aspects of the impact of European Union migration policies on ECOWAS, the West African regional economic integration project, and on the migration policies of three countries in the region, Nigeria, Mali, and Niger. The study focuses in particular on the divergent perceptions of the issue in Europe and West Africa. While, from the point of view of decision-makers in Europe, migration from Sub-Saharan Africa has grown since the early 2000s from a problem into a crisis, in West Africa, it is seen as a new phase in the region’s difficult history of socio-economic development.

In conclusion, the study emphasises that the EU and West African states have a divergent understanding of what is at stake, with the result that dialogue devolves into ineffective initiatives that reflect both the lack of coherence and the power – in terms of resources – of the EU position.