This chapter demonstrates that the free movement framework is a manifestation of sustainable migration, where economic and social sustainability considerations dictate the attribution, limitation, or extension of rights of EU migrants. The analysis begins with an investigation of the 2004 enlargement. The differentiation of clauses and transitional periods, compared to previous Accession Treaties, brings to the forefront the way economic considerations dictate the attribution of rights to soon-to-be EU migrants. The relevant section draws attention to the limitation of rights for nationals of the CEECs in contrast to the full attribution of rights to nationals of acceding states who were not thought of as posing risks to the economic sustainability of the EU. And so, it highlights the legal tools devised to ensure sustainability of migration in the framework of accession. Following, it presents the current framework regulating free movement and suggests that its legal design should be understood as the most contemporary and elaborate manifestation of sustainable migration in law.

Following the aligned approach to the regulation of migration in the early years of the Community and the differentiation triggered by the political momentum of the 1990s, the period reviewed in this part can be characterized as one of realization and paradoxes. This final part primarily engages with valid law. Secondary law on migrants’ rights was amended for EU migrants and adopted for TCN migrants during this time. The analysis first identifies the ultimate balancing of economic and social objectives behind the limitation of rights of EU migrants as a manifestation of a sustainable migration framework. Second, it reveals the central role of economic considerations in the regulation of migration from third countries. It also suggests that national contestation and the lack of long-term considerations in the Council are among the reasons why the regulation of migration for TCNs cannot serve economic and social sustainability. Finally, concluding the historical analysis of the regulation of migration which started in Part I, this part reveals the paradoxes and tensions that arise from the way in which economic and social objectives are pursued through EU migration law.

This concluding chapter first summarizes the findings of the main investigation and suggests that the problem behind the new objective of sustainable migration lies not so much in the effort to align migration with economic and social demands. This has after all been a constant feature of EU law as distilled from the historical investigation. Rather, the problem lies in the way the economic and social objectives of the EU are perceived by different actors. The chapter analyses the limitations that exist in the way EU law has historically aligned migrants’ rights to the economic and social objectives of primary law and reflects on what an EU sustainable migration can and cannot mean for the rights of migrants. Essentially, the analysis highlights that structural features of the EU legal order set very clear limits in attempts to envision an EU sustainable migration law. Finally, the chapter also presents a realistic vision of what an EU sustainable migration law could mean if the way economic and social objectives are considered was redirected and grounded on the current acquis.

This chapter provides an overview of the problem posed by the objective of an EU sustainable migration as well as the argument guiding the investigation. It provides an overview of the concept of sustainability, its appearance in EU law, policy, and scholarship, as well as its recent connection to migration. After demonstrating that the existing legal and policy framework, as well as scholarly research, are of no help in conceptualizing the legal implications of the sustainable migration demand, the chapter highlights the necessity of addressing the problem by means of critical legal history. It further presents the material and the boundaries of the investigation and it concludes by outlining the structure of the book, its significance, and objectives.