If we were to define the current common readmission policy of the EU in Africa, the words “flexibility”, “arrangements”, “non-legally binding” and “practical instruments” would be used repeatedly. Similarly, making an inventory based exclusively on the number of formal readmission agreements the EU has entered into with third countries would never suffice to illustrate the scope of its common readmission policy. At the EU level, new informal arrangements dealing with readmission and readmission-related matters have indeed flourished. Beyond the oft-declared need for “practical cooperation”, the authors set out to explain the unavowed domestic factors that prompted the European Commission to opt for flexible arrangements on readmission with third countries in Africa.