Migration : a key concept in the EU’s enlargement process

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to interpret and analyse how migration has played a role in the European Union’s enlargement process in the period of 2014-2018. By undertaking theoretical and methodological concepts from Reinhart Koselleck, the study takes a conceptual historical approach to answer the question: What conceptual development has migration undergone within the European Commission’s annual enlargement package between 2014 and 2018? By focusing on the conceptual use of migration within specific enlargement documents, this study shows that migration has developed into a negative association of security-related problems. Concerns regarding security escalated alongside the perception of a high influx of migrants in 2015 and subsequently affected the people whom the Commission referred to when talking about migrants. In summary, contextual circumstances have allowed migration to undergo conceptual developments, which had direct impacts on the enlargement process. The Commission’s experiences with migration have primarily shaped its expectations of a future enlargement process that values the strategic importance of cooperation in the area of migration. The conceptual use of migration is thus predicted to continue to play an essential role in future enlargement processes.