The external dimension of the EU-policy in the fight against trafficking in human beings.

My research deals with the European Union's policy to prevent and fight against trafficking in human beings (THB). While taking into account the evolution of the definition of THB, as well as the development of a EU multidisciplinary, integrated and holistic approach to THB, it focuses on the external dimension of this policy.

Considering the broad scope of measures relating to the prevention and the fight against THB, relevant external actions can be found in diverse fields of EU action, ranging from development policy and the fight against poverty to labour and social policy or the promotion of legal economic migration. My research focuses on external actions aiming at fostering and strengthening police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, in order to improve the prosecution of traffickers, regardless of their localisation inside or outside the EU. Complementary external measures, adopted in the field of migration and/or in the field of victims' protection, also receive special attention.

Moreover since the EU institutions, in agreement with the Member States, decided to prioritise their efforts on the EU’s direct and/or immediate neighbours, my research focuses on the external actions targeting these priority regions, and therefore analyses in particular the relations of the EU with candidate and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans.