The migratory pressure at the EU’s external borders is a major challenge for the policy makers’ community. As further evidence, the EU Action on Migratory Pressures approved by the European Council in 2012 identifi ed in the “Enhancement of border management at the external borders,” a strategic priority for the next fi ve years. Moving from the analysis of the political, institutional and geopolitical factors that have led the EU to design its migration policy in function of a vision marked by securitisation, this study examines the European strategy on migration and asylum by analysing criticalities and prospects that have emerged in the last decade of the integrated border management of the Italian southern external borders. Keywords: Irregular Migration, EU’s External Borders, EU’s Migration Policy.