Free Movement of Persons in the EU & ECOWAS

This work is a comparative analysis of free movement of persons in the EU and ECOWAS. The free movement of persons is considered the most fundamental and cherished freedom guaranteed to EU citizens by the Treaties. The ECOWAS Protocols equally provides for the free movement of persons within the West African States. However, despite the seeming similarity between the EU and ECOWAS in its objective to create a common market through the free movement of persons, in respect of ECOWAS, there seems to be a huge gap between the declaration of this right and its actual implementation and enforcement by the West African Member States. This work examines the various constraints militating against the effective mobility of persons within the West African sub-region. It links the peculiar socio-economic realities in the sub-region with the inability of the Member states to commit to the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocols on free movement of persons and makes notable recommendations.