Temporary and circular migration in the construction of European migration governance

Increased interest in and debate in Europe and at European Union (EU) level about the potential utility of ‘temporary’ and ‘circular’ forms of migration is accompanied by a certain elusiveness about the meaning of these terms. This elusiveness has actually created some opportunities for EU level interactions to flesh-out the meaning of these terms and inform policy development at member state and EU level. By focusing on information gathering and the role of knowledge, the article develops a practice-based approach to analyse the relationship between research and policy, the role of the Commission and the activities of European Migration Network (EMN) in the quest for the meaning of temporary and circular migration. Information gathering and knowledge creation at EU level are shown to serve instrumental purposes by informing policy choices (‘evidence-based policy-making’) but it is also shown that existing policy choices cast a long shadow to shape the context within which knowledge is developed (policy-based evidence-making) while information gathering and knowledge development can legitimate institutional roles, such as the Commission (policy-based institution-building).