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2005: europe on the move - coping with migration

All participants are expected to read the literature selected for their particular groups as well as the general literature before attending the Conference

General reader for all participants:

Group 1: Immigration into Western Europe: Cure or Curse for the Welfare State?
 The ongoing public and political discussion about restructuring the welfare state models of some of the EU 15 Member States directly concerns the question of migration: do immigrants actually increase the public spending on social security funds, thereby placing a higher financial burden on the native working population? Or do they represent net contributors to the budget? Besides the social security payments, the ageing societies of some of the old Member States require adequate policy actions to ensure a viable pension system in the near future. In this context, is immigration a possible solution to this problem, and if so, how do natives and immigrants perceive their positions as beneficiaries and contributors respectively?

Different political and economic arguments will be presented, analysed and discussed in order to address the above-mentioned questions during the conference. The aim is to provide the participants with an insight into recent public and political debates about the challenges of the Western European welfare models (in selected EU Member States: Germany, France, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands) with regard to migration. Moreover, different current policy proposals for reforming the EU 15 public finance systems, national and EU migration policy will be assessed. Eventually, the group shall come up with an own policy advice promoting a better understanding of the topic and arguments for the wider public.

Group 2: Migration and Enlargement - an Economic Point of View
 The recent European enlargement gave rise to many concerns about possible East-West migration, with differing attitudes within as well as between the old and the accessing Member States. The crucial question has undoubtedly been whether the enlargement would result in high flows of immigrants -especially those seeking labour - from the new to the old Member States. In order to find an adequate answer to this question, it is important to understand and illuminate its complexity. Analyzing economic data and literature will clarify the general economic differences between the new and the old countries.

While economists expected rather modest and manageable migration flows, Eurosceptics, trade unions and some governments feared floods of immigrants running for national jobs and social-security benefits. Therefore, most of the old EU members established five-year transition periods on free movement of labour, with Germany and Austria extending theirs to seven years, and the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Sweden establishing none at all. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to look at and analyse the economic factors influencing the decision to migrate and the decisions to oppose or welcome such movements. In how far has migration taken place since May, 1, 2004? Which prophecy turned out to be the right one so far? Migration was one of the most fiercely debated subjects with regard to the EU enlargement and still is of great interest to both the new and old Member States, as well as the prospective ones.

Migration and Society of Knowledge

Group 3: Brain Drain in Europe and Its Effect on the Objectives of the Lisbon Agenda
"Three years ago, E.U. leaders vowed to make the union 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world' by 2010. But one of the most worrying signs of their failure is the continued drain of Europe's best and brightest scientific brains, who finish their degrees and pursue careers in the U.S. Some 400,000 European science and technology graduates now live in the U.S. and thousands more leave each year."With increased numbers of researchers migrating to the United States to pursue their academic careers, it might be very difficult to reach the ambitious goals of the Lisbon Agenda. For how can one ensure "sustainable economic growth" based on knowledge-society, if the society loses its top scientists and academics? And while increased mobility of researchers can bring potential gains to both the sending and the receiving country through the concept of "brain circulation" (Johnson & Regets, 1998), more than often it ends up being a one-sided benefit (brain gain) for the destination country at the expense of the origin country, where the brain drain occurs.
Sadly enough, in this competition for the most able researchers, Europe very often is the loser and the United States the winner. How does the United States manage to attract not only European but also world's most renowned scientific brains? Is it only a matter of money or maybe also different attitudes towards innovation and entrepreneurship? Would then Europe's objective to increase its total spending on Research and Development from 1.8% to 3% solve the problem?

Exactly five years after the announcement of the Lisbon Agenda and half way through its implementation period, it might be useful to evaluate the progress that has been made on the issue. Has Europe managed to contain the outflow of its researchers, or is it still hoping that "sustainable economic development" will happen on its own?

Group 4: Student Mobility in Europe
Investing in human resources is both a growth factor and a key instrument for enhancing European integration process. As education in general and higher education in particular are not a part of the "common European policy", the Community has a complementary role to play. By establishing the ERASMUS Programme in 1989, which created a network of European universities promoting mobility of students through exchange programmes, the European Union started to encourage cooperation between the Member States in the field of education. Within this framework, the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was introduced, which ensures that European study programmes are compatible with one another, and that students' competences are acknowledged abroad.

However, in spite of Community's efforts, there are still not enough students spending a period of time studying or working abroad. Thus, what are the still persisting barriers to international student mobility and how can they be removed? In relation to these general questions, we will discuss the role of European universities not only in improving the mobility of students within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), but also in increasing European universities' international competitiveness.

Migration and Asylum Policies in Europe

Group 5: Seeking Asylum
In the hope for a better life, yearly around 400.000 asylum seekers- one third of all immigrants in Europe- are knocking on the European door. On the one hand, European governments acknowledge their responsibility to protect refugees in danger of persecution. On the other hand, this approach involves high public expenditures and cost burden on the society. Therefore, national governments have tightened their asylum policies with the aim of supporting the claims of the asylum seekers, combating illegal migration and strengthening public confidence in the asylum system.

Once a source of emigrants, Italy, a country lying at the shore of Europe now serves itself as one of the main spring- boards for immigrants to a better "European" life. In an attempt to manage its busy borders, Italy established a rigid control mechanism to manage and reduce the influx of refugees. However, the consequences of national asylum policies are not restricted to a single country, but rather they affect the whole European Union. Therefore, Member States agreed to coordinate their migration policies and strive towards their harmonization in order to increase the benefits and diminish the costs of migration. However, will the current asylum systems of the European Member States be able to cope with the increasing number of incoming migrants in the future? What are the possible reforms of the asylum policies?

Group 6: Asylum Policy at the European Union Level
"Freedom should not be reserved for citizens of the European Union", EU heads of states and governments declared at their 1999 summit in Tampere, Finland. Denying protection to those who need it would be a violation of European values - and it is a responsibility of the EU to equally guarantee asylum rights for people who are persecuted in their home countries.

Declarations like that sure sound nice - but frankly, the EU leaders did not have a choice: not only is the right to asylum guaranteed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, but it is primarily based on the 1951 Geneva Convention, which is binding for all member states alike. So where did the sudden enthusiasm for a supranational approach to asylum policy come from? From two reasons: first, the 1990s saw a huge rise in the numbers of asylum seekers, mainly due to wars and unrest in Europe's neighborhood. Second, the creation of the Single Market implied a Europe of open frontiers and free movement. Thus, EU leaders saw the need to create a common asylum policy. But of course, giving up sovereignty in a field heavily influenced by public sentiment was met with reluctance by several EU members. How has the EU therefore advanced on common asylum policy? How have the original plans been implemented? In short, will the EU succeed in achieving common goals, or will national fears and vanities prevent true cooperation?

Additionally, students from Group 6 will receive a copy of two more articles via email.

Integration of Immigrants

Group 7: Challenges of Integration
Currently, the issue of integrating immigrants into Europe's societies has become one of the most hotly debated topics on the political stage. What has currently been given priority therein is the supposed threat of the Muslim members of the Western societies. Recent attacks on religious institutions primarily in France and the Netherlands have led to serious doubts concerning the successfulness of the integration of foreigners as a whole. The media has mainly confronted the public with information about religious fundamentalists, who are said to follow cultural, religious or social traditions that are different or even incompatible with the democratic values upheld by the host states. This has led to the by now widely spread notion of "parallel societies", which are believed to exist in many of the European countries. At present, politicians are less and less contained to directly address immigrants, demanding greater efforts for integration. Apparently, the effect of such an approach is rather limited, and it is beyond doubt that such claims do not even attempt to tackle the source of the problem. Given the growing concern about possible terrorist acts on the European soil, many states tend to dismiss the problems of integration as a secondary concern and choose instead to harden their immigration policies. But again, these methods do not seem to be aiming at solving the problems as such.

Does the persistence of integration problems pose an actual threat to the fundamental Western values and ultimately destabilise the identity of European societies founded on social cohesion, development and citizen participation? And if so, what are the appropriate means to combat not only this erupting threat to our societies but also the factors underlying its accruement?

Group 8: A Common European Integration Policy?
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Western European countries experienced large influx of immigrants as a result of excess demand for workers. Some countries explicitly encouraged foreigners to migrate and contribute to the European "Wirtschaftswunder." As the stay of "guest workers" was considered to be temporary, the governments did not see the necessity to integrate them into the society. Falling short of the expectations, many immigrants stayed - today, even the third generation of migrants still lives in the recipient countries. The number of migrants reached such an extent, that their presence could not be ignored anymore. Instead, appropriate measures were required, in order to integrate them into the society. This process can be no longer delayed, as Europe's population is aging and declining, and thus more immigrants will probably arrive.

Naturally, the number of migrants coming to Europe was not restricted to those seeking labour. People who were forced to leave their home countries due to political or religious persecution in search for a better and more secure life have also become the issue of numerous debates. Several European countries have adopted the policy of 'shared citizenship' in order to meet some of the migrants' conflicting ties of diverse affiliations and demonstrate the fulfilling of their liberal, democratic values. However, this limited cooperation of European states cannot be seen as a serious attempt to create some kind of common integration policy. Should such a common policy be created, and would it solve Europe's pressing problems of integrating immigrants into their societies?

The Economist. The coming hordes , January 2004 Chu, J. (2004). How to Plug Europe's Brain Drain. Time. Retrieved December 6, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.time.com/time/europe/html/040119/brain/story.html
Johnson, J.M. & Regets, M. International Mobility of Scientists and Engineers To the US. Brain Drain or Brain Circulation?, NSF Issue Brief 98-316, June 22, 1998