Regional migration governance and the selective framing of norms: a comparative analysis of BSEC and SEECP

OpenAlex · English

This article explores how regional organizations engage in the construction, diffusion and contestation of migration and mobility norms. Drawing on the literature on regionalism and migration governance, this study adopts region as the primary unit of analysis and examines how normative agendas of regional organizations are shaped, depoliticized and selectively implemented. Focusing on the South-East Europe and Black Sea (SEBS) region, the study analyses two intergovernmental platforms with limited institutionalization: Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP). Through a Critical Discourse Analysis of over 100 institutional documents produced from the early 1990s to 2024, the article investigates how these organizations address migration and mobility in response to shifting geopolitical dynamics. The findings suggest that BSEC and SEECP do not operate as cohesive norm entrepreneurs. Rather, they function as discursive arenas where migration governance is negotiated and selectively framed, reflecting broader power asymmetries and institutional constraints.