This timely book assesses national and supranational bilateral approaches to dealing with the rising tide of migration into the European Union via the Mediterranean Sea. International law and EU migration law specialists critically assess the legal tools adopted to engage with the 'refugee crisis'. While the EU works to develop a unified approach to Mediterranean transit and origin countries, the authors argue that a crucial role should be accorded to individual states in finding a solution to this complex and sensitive situation.

Historical and political factors playing into migration strategies are discussed, and the legal framework underpinning the bilateral and regional schemes on which the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean seek to cooperate on migration is also examined. Migration-related issues, such as search and rescue at sea, human rights and policing are explored throughout the book. Comparing the bilateral arrangements Southern EU Member States have made with the Mediterranean countries of origin and the regional bilateralism conducted by the EU, expert authors assess how best to achieve a coherent model.

This will be an essential read for academics and scholars in international and European migration law, environmental politics and policy; practitioners and policymakers working on migration issues, and NGOs.

Contributors include:C. Billet, M. Borraccetti, G. Borzoni, F. Casolari, M. Di Filippo, M. Gatti, I. González García, F. Ippolito, K.D. Magliveras, A. Ott, M. Ovádek, E. Papastavridis, I. Sammut, F. Seatzu, P. Van Elsuwege, J. Wouters, V. Zvezda