1. BELLEVUE PROGRAMME YEAR 2010/2011
EU SEMINAR
BRUSSELS – STRASBOURG
FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 9 / 2011
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2. EU MIGRATION POLICY
Migration is a complex phenomenon which involves European
Union countries. According to the data published by Eurostat, the
population of the EU was 497.4 million persons in 2008; of these 30.8
millions were foreigners living in the EU (6.2 % of the total population), of
which almost two thirds (19.5 millions) were citizens of a non-member
State, while one third (11.3 millions) were citizens of another EU country.
The largest numbers of foreign citizens in 2008 reside in Germany
(7.3 millions), Spain (5.3 millions), the United Kingdom (4.0 millions),
France (3.7 millions) and Italy (3.4 millions).
The most significant numbers of third-country nationals residing in
the EU come from Turkey, Morocco, Albania and China, but citizenship
structures of foreign population vary considerably across Member States,
on the basis of geographical proximity, political factors, historical ties or
common language.
On the one hand migration can be considered an opportunity both for
immigrants and for hosting societies, but on the other hand it can represent
a problem if governments do not develop adequate policies.
In my opinion, for an overall understanding of the phenomenon, it is
useful to distinguish three different kinds of immigrants: legal immigrants,
illegal immigrants and asylum seekers.
First of all, legal immigrants are those third-country nationals who
go to a European country and reside there with all the necessary documents
required by the law (basically visa and permit of stay). They can legally
stay in a member State for different reasons: e.g. working, studying, family
reunification.
Each member States decides the procedures for the admission of
legal immigrants.
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3. Secondly, illegal immigrants are those foreigners who enter a
European country avoiding border controls or who, after having legally
entered, reside in a European country without the necessary permission.
The consequence of their illegal stay is that they are expelled, according to
the law of the State.
Finally, asylum seekers are those people who leave their country and
apply for protection in another State for fear of being persecuted in their
home country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion. The 1951 Geneva Convention
defines the status of refugee and lays down a common international
approach towards refugees.
The above mentioned three categories of immigrants require
different treatments and different approaches.
Besides, inside each group it is possible to distinguish other specific
categories, like unaccompanied minors, victims of abuse and so on.
With regard to my work experience, I deal with all the above
mentioned types of immigrants. Indeed, in Italy the issues related to
immigration and asylum are placed in the sphere of competence of the
Ministry of Interior. I work in Caltanissetta (Sicily) at the local branch of
the Italian Ministry of Interior, which is called “Prefettura”. Currently, I
am the chief of the unit which deals with civil rights, citizenship, legal
status of foreigners, immigration and asylum.
The main topic of my office is immigration and asylum. Indeed, in
Caltanissetta there is one of the biggest camps in Italy for the first
accomodation of asylum seekers and for the detention of illegal
immigrants.
In this field, I work in cooperation with the local police and also the
main local, national and international bodies which deal with immigration
and asylum (UNHCR, IOM).
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4. In addition, since sometimes the camp is visited by foreign
deputations, I have the opportunity to be in touch with members of
Parliaments, civil servants and members of NGOs coming from other
countries. Therefore, my main current responsibilities concern:
coordination and administration of people, cooperation with other bodies
and organizations, writing reports, drafting projects, solving problems and
making decisions on many topics related to immigration (work
authorizations, family reunification, expulsion procedures, citizenship) and
asylum. On the whole, I consider that the most interesting part of my job is
dealing more with human beings than with papers.
On the basis of my personal experience in the field, I think that
migration requires coordination and cooperation among EU countries.
Member States differ with regard to policies on the issues of migration and
residence of third-country nationals, but the EU is trying to build up a
common policy on immigration.
Building a common policy in the field of migration is difficult, since
immigration is linked to other topics, like security, borders control,
freedom of movement.
In addition, from a political point of view it is a sensitive issue which
concerns public opinion. So it can be difficult to find a common view
because governments and political parties have got different ideas on how
migration policies should be developed.
At a European level, migration is part of the policy area “justice,
freedom and security”.
EU policies on migration and asylum have evolved from the
Amsterdam Treaty, through the implementation of the Tampere programme
and the Hague programme. The Stockholm programme, adopted at the
December 2009 European Council, sets a framework and some principles
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5. for the future development of European migration policies for the period
2010-2014.
The basis for immigration and asylum EU common policy is the
European Pact on immigration and asylum, adopted in September 2008.
In particular, the Pact makes five basic commitments:
1) to organise legal immigration to take account of the
priorities, needs and reception capacities determined by
each Member State and to encourage integration;
2) to control illegal immigration by ensuring that illegal
immigrants return to their countries of origin;
3) to make border controls more effective;
4) to construct a Europe of asylum;
5) to create a comprehensive partnership with the countries of
origin and of transit in order to encourage the synergy
between migration and development.
Therefore, coming back to the classification of different type of
immigrants, the analysis of European policies on migration is the
following.
With regard to legal immigrants, the European policy aims are: to
implement policies for labour migration that take account of the needs of
the labour market of each country; to increase the attractiveness of the EU
for highly skilled workers and take new measures to further facilitate the
reception and mobility of students and researchers; to ensure that these
policies do not aggravate brain drain by encouraging circular migration; to
promote the exchange of best practices in reception and integration and on
EU measures to support national integration policies.
With regard to irregular immigration, the European policy
consists in: concluding EU level or bilateral readmission agreements with
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6. non-EU countries; ensuring that the risks of irregular migration are
prevented within the policy frameworks on entry, residence, freedom of
movement, etc.; developing cooperation between EU countries on the
removal of migrants without legal authorisation to reside in an EU country;
stepping up cooperation with countries of origin and transit as part of the
Global Approach to Migration in order to control irregular immigration;
inviting EU countries to devise incentive systems for assisted voluntary
return; taking rigorous action through dissuasive and proportionate
penalties against those exploiting immigrants without legal authorisation to
reside in an EU country; putting into full effect the applicability within the
Union of an expulsion decision taken by any EU country.
Besides, a European Agency for the Management of Operational
Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European
Union (Frontex) has been set up to improve integrated management at the
Union's external borders.
In the field of asylum, since 1999 European Union has worked on
building a common European Asylum system (CEAS). In particular,
minimal harmonisation of national legislation has been reached thanks to
the following Council directives:
1) Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on
minimum standards for the qualification and status of
third-country nationals and stateless persons as
refugees or as persons who otherwise need
international protection and the content of the
protection granted (Qualification Directive);
2) Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003
laying down minimum standards for the reception of
asylum seekers (Reception Conditions Directive);
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7. 3) Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005
on minimum standards on procedures in Member
States for granting and withdrawing refugee status
(Asylum Procedures Directive).
Besides, the Dublin II Regulation establishes criteria and
mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining
an asylum application and it prevents abuse of asylum procedures in the
form of multiple applications.
Basically, the Dublin II Regulation establishes that the State
responsible for examining the asylum application is the EU country where
the applicant has illegally crossed EU borders for the first time. If a
Member State deems another Member State responsible for examining an
asylum application, it can call on that Member State to take charge of the
application. The Member State responsible for the asylum application has
to take back the asylum seeker and to complete the examination of his/her
application. But this mechanism has experienced some problems, related to
the limited reception and absorption capacities and to the lack of adequate
standards of protection in some States (especially States which are at the
external borders of EU and are more exposed to massive arrivals of asylum
seekers). For this reason, EU institutions are examining proposals
amending the Dublin II regulation.
In addition, speaking about the European policy on immigration it
should be mentioned the “Framework programme on solidarity and
management of migration flows” which establishes financial solidarity
mechanisms and which finances projects covering four areas:
1) controls and surveillance of external borders (External Frontiers
Fund);
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8. 2) return of Non-EU Member Country nationals residing illegally in
the EU (European Return Fund);
3) integration of legally resident Non-EU Member Country nationals
(European Integration Fund);
4) asylum (European Fund for Refugees).
In my opinion, migration is a challenge for Europe. Indeed, migration
flows can produce economic, cultural and demographic benefits, on
condition that they are managed with order and coordination.
From this point of view, efforts toward a common immigration and
asylum policy and toward harmonisation of national policies are essential.
In conclusion, I would like to point out an issue on which EU is
working through different programmes and initiatives: the promotion of the
integration of immigrants into the host society.
In this field, EU has built a Common Agenda on integration: some
Ministerial Conferences on integration took place in recent years and some
common tools were developed.
In particular, I can mention:
- the European Integration Fund which finances projects for the
integration of immigrants in EU countries;
- the Handbook on Integration for policy-makers and practitioners,
which main objective is to act as a driver for the exchange of
information and good practice between stakeholders in all Member
States;
- the European Web Site on Integration which provides a collection
of good practices and a wide variety of tools and useful
information related to integration work;
- the European Integration Forum which provides an opportunity for
civil society organisations to express their views on migrant
integration issues.
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9. In addition, EU has developed programmes and initiatives in order to
fight against discrimination, like the PROGRESS programme, which
provides financial support for the implementation of the European Union’s
objectives in the field of employment and social affairs, and the EQUAL
programme, which promotes new ways of combating all forms of
discrimination and inequalities in the labour market and which facilitates
the social and occupational integration of asylum seekers. Furthermore, EU
institutions are working on “European Modules on Migrant Integration”,
with the aim of providing guidelines to Member States which will enable
them to implement integration policies.
Actually, I think that integration is the key for a successful migration
policy because when migrants fail to integrate into society there may be
socio-economic costs, in terms of marginalization, lower employment rates,
higher exposure to undeclared or even illegal work, risk of episodes of
racism and xenophobia.
In my opinion, integration is a bidirectional process which involves both
European citizens and immigrants: it is important that they learn to know
each other, to share some fundamental values and to respect different
cultures, so that migration can produce positive effects both for hosting
society and for immigrants.
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