On Thursday, June 5, Cape Verde and the European Union will sign a Joint Declaration on the Partnership for Mobility between the EU and Cape Verde. The document will permit the "circulation" of Cape Verdean citizens in European territory through the norms defined by the accord. Cape Verde's Minister of Internal Administration, Lívio Lopes (photo), will travel to Luxembourg for the signing of the document.

Through the accord, citizens of Cape Verde will see access to the European job market facilitated, particularly with regards to seasonal employment. In exchange, the European Union is expecting to have Praia's collaboration in the reinforcement of the control of illegal migratory flows. In this regard, the expansion of relations with the Frontex Agency is seen as fundamental to controlling and carrying out surveillance of Cape Verde's maritime borders, according to a press release from the Ministry of Internal Administration.

According to the communiqué, new forms of dialogue between Praia and Brussels will soon be created, such as the Joint Commission for the Integration of Cape Verdean Immigrants in Portugal and the Joint Cape Verde-Luxembourg Work Group for Integration.

The declaration to be signed on Thursday opens the way for specific negotiations for a system through which visas for the Schengen countries may be more easily obtained or even done away with for Cape Verdean citizens. In addition to Cape Verde, Moldova is also being contemplated with the same mechanisms.

In practice, the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Partnership for Mobility is one of the first pillars of the special partnership established last year between Cape Verde and the European Union.