04 December 2025

Bilateral Labour Arrangements, especially flexible, non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs), have been on the uptake in the 2020s as EU Member States turn to them to plug labour shortages, advance migration diplomacy, and build safer, skills-driven mobility schemes with partner countries. This analytical piece by Bianca Varesio and Orlane Janvier analyses the recent surge of such agreements between the EU and partner countries.