This dissertation project seeks to explain why some states in the European Neighbourhood align more closely with the European migration governance model than others. Drawing on new dataset measuring migration policies in 15 states of the European Neighbourhood Programme (ENP), the dissertation project identifies the following pattern: Since the end of the 1990s every state in the EU’s neighbourhood passed migration policy reforms. Yet, the scope as well as the content of these reforms varies greatly across states. A wide array of potential explanatory factors is already advanced in the literature. But current explanations remain on a case specific level, and thus fall short of accounting for the broader variation of migration policy reform in the EU’s neighbourhood. Furthermore current research tends to underestimate the role of domestic explanatory factors. Consequently the dissertation project seeks to identify relevant (domestic) drivers of alignment with the European migration governance model through a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) across 15 ENP countries and through case studies on selected ENP states.