Introduction
Immigration
is a highly sensitive political issue in all the Member States
of the European Union. Politicians and society in general need
to accept the fact that the majority of EU Member States have
become immigration destinations. Large-scale migration will
continue to have profound economic, political, social and
cultural consequences within the EU. Migration has a profound
impact on people’s every-day life, but also strongly
influences the economical and political arena more than ever
before in the modern era. Immigration
will not only continue, but will also increase inside the
Union. According to Rainer Münz, migration specialist of the
Hamburg Institute of International Economics, the European
Union will in 2005 count 36 million economic migrants among
its population of 456 million people. This amounts up to 8% of
its total population and almost 11% of the European labour
force. Multidimensional consequences in the social economic,
political and cultural area of receiving societies maximize
the demand for effective and comprehensive policies on
immigration and integration of migrants.
The
progressive establishment of a common EU framework for the
integration of migrants has therefore become a top priority.
At official level, the successful integration of legally
residing third-country nationals, and their descendants, is
seen as a paramount goal for the benefit of EU social cohesion
and economic welfare, as well as the Lisbon Strategy. At
present, the nature of integration programmes and the type of
integration measures that should be provided are heavily being
debated. Another key issue is whether such measures should be
mandatory or not, and if non-compliance might lead to legal
and financial consequences, including a possible impact on the
migrant’s residential status.
From
Tampere to The Hague
The
Treaty on the European Union (1992) created the third pillar
on Justice and Home Affairs with one of its tasks being the
study of issues relating to asylum, visas and migration. But
over the years the formal harmonization of policy remained
limited. The Schengen Agreement of 1985 intended to abolish
internal border controls for all people and to adopt common
measures to strengthen external border controls. However, not
all EU Member States shared this view.
The
meeting of the European Council at Tampere represented a
turning point after the ‘Europeanization’ of immigration
policies with the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty.
For the very first time, a Multi-annual programme was set on
policies as sensitive as Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), and
particularly on the field of immigration. Among the package of
objectives and deadlines presented in the so-called ‘Tampere
milestones’, fair treatment of those labelled as
‘third-country nationals’ was an essential ingredient in
an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ).
The
European Council at Thessaloniki revisited the open call given
at Tampere to develop a comprehensive and multidimensional
policy on ‘how to efficiently manage the integration of
migrants’. The Heads of State and Government stressed that
while primary responsibility for the elaboration and
implementation of integration strategies remains with the
Member States, these policies should be developed within a
coherent EU framework establishing common basic principles and
standards that would re-enforce policy co-ordination. On this
same occasion, the Directorate General on Freedom, Security
and Justice as well as the one on Employment and Social
Affairs of the European Commission presented a Communication
on immigration, integration and employment (2003/336).
In
November 2004, EU heads of state and government have agreed a
new Multi-annual five years programme for closer co-operation
in the field of justice and home affairs, the so-called “The
Hague Programme”. Asylum and migration policy continue to be
at the top of the European policy agenda. The integration of
migrants was also placed among the most relevant policy areas.
Tampere
European Council Presidency Conclusions, 15-16 October 1999 as
well as the Hague Programme, Strengthening
Freedom, Security and Justice in the European Union,
Brussels European Council Presidency Conclusions, 4/5 November
2004 at:
http://ue.eu.int/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=432&lang=en&mode=g
National
Policies – Conflicting Strategies?
It
is clear that a common EU immigration policy, and especially a
shared economic migration strategy, is far from being achieved.
An effective and successful policy on regular migration could
however contribute to social cohesion and the so-called Lisbon
Strategy (March 2000). Five years after the Tampere Presidency
Conclusions (October 1999), the level of convergence achieved
so far on immigration is rather low, and the development and
implementation of immigration remains to a great extent one of
the Member States’ competences.
States
differ considerably in their approaches, programmes and
political priorities towards integration of migrants. There
are indeed a variety of images, stereotypes and philosophies
on what immigrant integration should be or not. Recently, many
new conditions are being applied to new immigrants but also to
long-term resident immigrants. The category of
‘immigration’ and the juridical label of ‘foreigner’
are often uncritically linked to integration problems.
A
wide range of programmes intending to promote and facilitate
the integration processes of lawful migrants have been put in
place in a majority of EU States. These programmes tend to
include for example language abilities, orientation courses
that familiarise migrants with the receiving country’s norms,
values as well as cultural customs. It is well known that all
these integration strategies involve a strong financial and
political investment. Their content and structure vary widely
in terms of scope, target groups and actors. The diversity
derives from the different historical backgrounds, societal
models, self-perception as well as patterns and traditions of
migration flows in each State. Therefore, comparative studies
and benchmarking are of great importance. Currently, research
is taking place all over Europe in order to assess the
different national strategies. Comparisons remain however
difficult because of the different context in each single
country and the different actors being involved.
Communicating
a Migration Policy
Migration
is a sensitive subject among populations in general.
Politicians should be very clear in explaining their ideas to
the wider public and the beneficial effects that immigration
brings to our societies. Migration has always remained a
delicate topic. Especially in periods of economic recession
migrants are an easy scapegoat. They are often seen as
‘those others invading our economies, looking for our
jobs’. In the past, most migrants were unskilled workers who
took up rough poorly paid jobs which local workers refused to
do. But this situation has been complicated further by the
increasing immigration of high-qualified people. People might
see this as a threat to their own situation and safety.
Besides,
media has also a decisive impact in society. Sometimes it
shows images of extreme cases and situations, such as stories
about boat refugees and irregular migrants, human trafficking
and broken families. It remains however doubtful whether those
are useful in discussing and addressing the challenges that
immigration poses. How should migration and its impact on our
society be discussed? What is the role of politicians and the
media?
Towards
a European Migration Policy: Success
or Failure?
The
EU is facing a dramatic economic and social change
characterized by labour shortages and accelerating demographic
ageing. An important aspect of labour market policy is
Europe’s ageing population where generational replacement is
not taking place. Fertility rates remain low while life
expectancy increases. In several years, the post-war
generation of baby boomers will reach pension age and will not
be part anymore of the labour force. The burdens of their
pensions will have a considerable impact on the economy.
Future generations will have to do the work with less people
and share the burdens of retired persons.
In
March 2000 the European Council decided on the ‘Lisbon
Strategy’ and set as a goal for the next decade that the EU
would become ‘the most competitive and dynamic
knowledge-based economy in the world; capable of sustainable
economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social
cohesion, a Union where the economic and social aspects of the
ageing population become more evident and where the labour
market for immigrants and refugees represents a crucial
component of the integration process’. Many research studies
have focused on the hypothesis of using replacement
immigration to solve Europe’s demographic needs. Using
immigration as a tool to fully meet these economic challenges
is not a realistic option. Problems occurring as a result of
lack of labour force should not only be solved by importing
migrant workers from other countries. Governments could also
solve these problems by improving labour participation among
their own citizens or by improving the integration of
minorities in society. In these areas, Europe can possibly
make important gains in only a short period of time. However,
common immigration policies facilitating sustained immigration
flows are likely and necessary. Thus, the European Commission
advocated for the development of a new approach to the
management of migration flows and in particular for a common
policy on admission for economic reasons. This official
message was reinforced in its 2003 Spring Report on the Lisbon
Strategy, where the Commission stressed the need for better
integration of migrants in order to guarantee high levels of
employment and productivity as the population balance changes
dramatically. In fact, as the Commission has lately confirmed,
even if the Lisbon employment targets are met by 2010, overall
employment levels will fall due to demographic change. Between
2010 and 2030, with current immigration flows remaining stable,
the EU-25’s working population will heavily decrease due to
a high amount of people reaching their pension age.
Recent
studies have shown that the Lisbon Agenda is however already
behind schedule and that its feasibility is rather doubtful.
See for example: The Kok Report, Facing the challenge – The
Lisbon strategy for Growth and Employment:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/lisbon_strategy/pdf/2004-1866-EN-complet.pdf
A
successful and efficient integration strategy of migrants
would serve as a fundamental element not only addressing the
challenge of maintaining social cohesion, but also enhancing
the EU’s overall economic welfare, the functioning of the
internal market and competitiveness of the EU enterprises.
An
EU strategy with regard to the so-called “economic or labour
migration” is still lacking. The admission procedures for
the economic migration of non-EU citizens are particularly
sensitive both for the member states as well as European
populations. Member states have been particularly reluctant to
transfer this competence to EU level. As early as 2001 the
Commission presented a proposal for a Directive intended to
lay down basic conditions and rules of admission of migrants
for employment purposes. This initiative is currently lost
somewhere behind the scenes of the Council. Having in mind the
urgent need to revisit the debate on the field of economic
migration, the Commission presented in January 2005 a Green
Paper on an EU approach to managing economic migration, which
will pave the way for a more formal approach to labour
migration and a so-called ‘economic migration strategy’.
The European Council reconfirmed in the Hague Programme
(November 2004) the importance of the debate on the Green
Paper which should be taken as a basis “for a policy plan on
legal migration including admission procedures capable of
responding promptly to fluctuating demands for migrant labour
in the labour market”. The Commission intends to present
this plan by the end of 2005.
A
common immigration policy managing and facing comprehensively
the challenges that migration involves is truly needed for the
sake of social cohesion and inclusion, economic growth and the
Lisbon Strategy. Member States have their own migration and
integration policies, often causing negative externalities for
other Member States. Working towards a European Migration
Policy will be a big challenge for Europe, both politically
and socially.
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