© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/157181609X410575 European Journal of Migration and Law 11 (2009) 19–39 www.brill.nl/emil Te Good, the Bad and the Ugly in EU Migration Law: Is the European Parliament Becoming Bad and Ugly? (Te Adoption of Directive 2008/15: Te Returns Directive) Diego Acosta* PhD student, Centre of European Law, King’s College London, UK Abstract Historically, the European Union has had a dichotomy between the liberal view in immigration manage- ment represented by the Parliament (‘the good’) and the Commission (‘the ugly’), and the conservative approach embodied by the Council (‘the bad’). Tis article deals with the first important immigration instrument adopted under co-decision: Directive 2008/115 (the so-called ‘Returns Directive’). Tis Directive has received a great deal of criticism addressed to the European Parliament in its approval of the text negotiated with the Council in the first reading, without introducing a single amendment. Tis behaviour has cast doubts as to whether the future involvement of this institution will result in a more migrant-friendly approach in the European Union. Te reasons why the European Parliament voted in favour of the Directive will be analysed in the following pages. But first, a question arises: Is the European Parliament becoming ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ or has its involvement improved the Council’s position in a way which would not have been possible without its participation? Tis is the main issue that this article, in the following pages, will try to answer by analysing the different steps in the adoption of the Directive from the Commission proposal until its official publication. Keywords Irregular; illegal immigration; co-decision; Returns Directive, ‘trilogues’; migration; European Union 1. Introduction In his 1966 timeless masterpiece ‘Te Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, director Sergio Leone tells the story of three men who ruthlessly pursue a mythical buried treasure. Te film is a morality play which shows how wrong can triumph over right, at least in the short term, and how sometimes good acts do go unrewarded. Te construction of a common migration law for the European Union con- tains some parallels. As in the film, there are three different actors: the European * ) Diego Acosta was involved in the drafting of the amendments to the Commission proposal in the Committee on Development of the European Parliament. Te author would like to thank Professor Gregor Noll, Dr. Cathryn Costello and the anonymous reviewers for their comments, as well as the civil servents and MEP assistants in the three institutions that helped with the research. Special thanks go to Holly Sage for her editorial help and comments, without which this article would not have been possible.