EU to link Africa aid to migration control in new budget plan

The European Commission is set to propose a radical overhaul of its development aid strategy next week, linking future funding to African countries with their efforts to curb migration flows to Europe, according to a draft internal document seen by POLITICO.

As part of the EU’s forthcoming seven-year budget plan, the proposal would mark a significant departure from the bloc’s traditionally unconditional aid model. The move underscores the European Union's increasingly hardline stance on migration, influenced by the rise of right-wing parties in the 2024 European elections.

“It shall combine all appropriate tools and the necessary leverage through a flexible incitative approach with, as appropriate within this context, possible changes in [the] allocation of funding related to migration,” the European Commission wrote in the blueprint, which outlines the bloc’s foreign aid strategy for the 2028–2035 budget cycle.

The plan reflects growing support among EU governments to use development aid as a tool to push third countries—especially in Africa—to take stronger measures to prevent irregular migration to Europe. The draft proposal suggests that nations failing to comply with migration reduction expectations could face funding cuts.

“Increased coherence between migration, asylum and external policies is needed to ensure that the Union’s external assistance supports partner countries to manage migration more effectively,” the document further states.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is leading the initiative, yielding to calls from her centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and key member states—from Italy to Denmark—that have been advocating for a tougher stance on migration.

The strategy appears to build on the controversial 2023 deal struck between the EU and Tunisia, which was aimed at curbing migrant departures in exchange for economic support. The Commission now seeks to replicate and expand this model across other African nations.

The proposed shift would also bring the EU’s aid policy in line with that of countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, which already use foreign assistance as leverage to achieve domestic policy goals, particularly in areas like border control and immigration.

However, von der Leyen’s proposal faces resistance from within the European Parliament. She must secure the backing of left-leaning groups such as the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Greens, whose support is crucial for the budget’s approval.

The new budget and aid framework will be formally unveiled by von der Leyen on July 16.

By Vugar Khalilov