Toward EU Immigration

Macari Elena

What is Immigration? Immigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or

population. It is a biological concept (is important in population ecology), differentiated from emigration and migration.

The term "immigration" is usually used to mean international immigration. International migration has been split into two types by most governments, based on the UN: long (a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year -12 months, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence) and short term (a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least 3 months).

One theory of immigration distinguishes between push factors and pull factors. Push factors refer primarily to the motive for emigration from the country of origin. For some migrants, education is the primary pull factor (although most international students are not classified as immigrants). Retirement migration from rich countries to lower-cost countries with better climate, is a new type of international migration

Background After World War II, countries such as France, Belgium, and Germany started to

allow and even entice foreign workers to come. The economic boom in those countries attracted immigrants, first from poor southern European countries such as Italy and Spain, and then from the far shores of the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East. The United Kingdom attracted immigrants from throughout the British empire: Indians and Pakistanis came to Britain from the 1950s on, Bangladeshis from the 1970s. France, Germany, and the Netherlands also attracted immigrants from their former colonies. The host European governments understood these migrants to be temporary guest workers as did many of the migrants themselves.

The economic downturn in the early 1970s led European policymakers to realize that immigration was not always a positive phenomenon. Many immigrants were suddenly unemployed, but they did not go back to their home countries. As fears grew that foreign workers sought permanent residence, between 1973 and 1975, Western European governments instituted an "immigration stop," introducing restrictive measures to deter immigration and to put a stop to recruiting foreign labor.

This immigration stop had unforeseen consequences. Migration of foreign workers dwindled, but the migration dynamic nevertheless continued. Migrants residing in Europe could continue to sponsor their extended family's immigration and, indeed, relaxation of restrictions on family reunification encouraged further immigration. The time between the first proposals for a halt and their implementation exacerbated the problem as immigrants hurried to bring over their families, fearful that the doors to Europe would soon close forever.

Migration within Europe As a result of the Schengen Agreement, there is free travel within Europe. Citizens

of European Union member states and their families have the right to live and work anywhere within the EU because of EU citizenship, but citizens of non-EU states do not have those rights unless they possess the EU Long Term Residence Permit or are family members of EU citizens. Nevertheless, all holders of valid residence permits as a Schengen State have the unrestricted right to travel within the Schengen area for tourist purposes only, and for up to three months. This is seen by many experts as an encouragement to work illegaly within the Schengen zone.

The European Union (EU) entitles all citizens to live, travel and work in the country of their choice. Citizens can freely travel, work, retire, or just vacate without any problems in any EU country. The European Union provides individuals and families with choices that other individual countries around the world cannot offer. The "Single Market" that was created in 1993 states that people, money, services, and good can move freely within the European Union.

Currently over 450 million EU citizens are provided with these options. British emigration towards Southern Europe is of special relevance. Citizens from the European Union make up a growing proportion of immigrants in Spain. They mainly come from countries like the UK and Germany, but the British case is of special interest due to its magnitude. The British authorities estimate that the British population in Spain at 700,000, while 380,000 people emigrated from the UK for a year or more, with Australia, and France most popular destinations. Because of Poland's entry into the EU in May 2004, 375,000 Poles have registered to work in the UK, although the total Polish population in the UK is believed to be 500,000. Many Poles work in seasonal occupations and a large number are likely to move back and forth over time.

Immigration to EU

The European countries with the highest proportion of non-native residents are small nations or microstates. In Andorra, immigrants comprise 77% of the country's 82,000 people; in Monaco, they make up 70% of the total population of 32,000; in Luxembourg, immigrants are 37% of the total of 480,000; in Liechtenstein they are 35% of the 34,000 people; and in San Marino they comprise 32% of the country's population of 29,000.

Until the 1970s, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain were primarily sources of emigration, sending large numbers of emigrants to the America, Australia and even European countries (France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium). As living standards in these countries have risen, the trend has reversed and they are now a magnet for immigration (most notably from Albania, Morocco, Somalia, Egypt and Ukraine to Italy and Greece, and from Morocco, Ukraine, Russia and Latin America to Spain and Portugal).

The EU countries have different immigration programs in terms of foreign work programs, ways to obtain citizenship, unemployment rates, inheritance of citizenship, and other official immigration programs which allows individuals to live in one or several EU countries. Some immigration programs can end with a citizenship while other programs are time limited and related to work or tourism. The advantage of citizenship in an EU country is that the laws and regulations of the EU is applicable to any country that one decide to live and work in.

There is a fundamental difference between becoming a citizen and a resident of any EU country. Citizenship is normally obtained through birth, marriage, long-term residency and family relations. Only citizens can obtain a passport. A resident with the legal right to live and work in an EU country holds a foreign citizenship and passport. However, different countries have different rules and regulations for how long an individual can be a resident before it is possible to apply for citizenship. A resident that gets married to a citizen can apply for citizenship. Dealing with foreign governments in a different language is not always easy, which is why "EU Immigration Guide" provides with simple and plain information in English.

According to Eurostat, Some EU member states are currently receiving large-scale immigration: for instance Spain, where the economy has created more than half of all the new jobs in the EU over the past five years.The EU, in 2005, had an overall net gain from international migration of +1.8 million people. This accounts for almost 85% of Europe's total population growth in 2005. In 2004, total 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa. In 2005, immigration fell slightly to 135,890.

Since 2000, Spain has absorbed more than three million immigrants, growing its population by almost 10%. Immigrant population now tops over 4.5 million. According to residence permit data for 2005, about 500,000 were Moroccan, another 500,000 were Ecuadorian,, and 260,000 were Colombian. In 2005 alone, a regularisation programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people.

Italy: Italy now has an estimated 4 million to 5 million immigrants — about 7 percent of the population. Since the expansion of the European Union, the most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European nations, particularly Eastern Europe, and increasingly Asia, replacing North Africa as the major immigration area. Immigrants from Eastern Europe are ukrainians ( 200 000 ), moldovans ( 90 000 ) macedonians ( 81 000 ), serbs ( 75 000 ), bosnians ( 40 000 ), russians ( 39 600 ), croatians ( 25 000 ). As of 2009, the foreign born population origin of Italy was subdivided as follows: Europe (53.5%), Africa (22.3%), Asia (15.8%), the Americas (8.1%) and Oceania (0.06%). The disribution of foreign born population is largely uneven in Italy: 87.3% of immigrants live in the northern and central parts of the country (the most economically developed areas), while only 12.8% live in the southern half of the peninsula.

United Kingdom: In 2007, net immigration to the UK was 237,000, a rise of 46,000 on 2006. In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795—a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from Asia (40%) and Africa (32%), the largest three groups being people from Pakistan, India and Somalia. In 2005, an estimated 565,000 migrants arrived to live in the UK for at least a year, most of the migrants were people from Asia (particularly the Indian subcontinent) and Africa.

Portugal, long a country of emigration, has now become a country of net immigration, from both its former colonies and other sources. By the end of 2003, legal immigrants represented about 4% of the population, and the largest communities were from Cape Verde, Brazil, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Ukraine.

An Immigration Dynamic

While North African and Middle Eastern immigrants to Europe initially focused on filling the labor market for short periods of time before returning home after a few years, after the immigration stop the new immigrants were whole families—husbands, wives, and children—who left their homeland behind to settle permanently in Europe. The arrival of families both changed the scale of immigration and the entire character of the immigrant communities. Immigrants now grew concerned about schooling, health care, and proper housing.

A Dutch study from 1994, for example, thought marriage immigration had already peaked. However, a study from 2005 by a Dutch government agency, Statistics Netherlands, shows that between 1995 and 2003, marriage immigration of Turks almost doubled, increasing from slightly less than 2,000 per year to close to 4,000. Marriage immigration of Moroccans in the same period tripled, increasing from slightly over 1,000 a year to about 3,000. This same study expects marriage immigration to peak by the mid 2020s, as second generation immigrants age.

Europe today offers unique possibilities. It is much closer to North Africa and Turkey than other immigration countries such as the United States, Canada, or Australia and can be reached without air travel. Additionally, freedom of travel within Europe enables immigrants to start in the most accessible country and later make their way to their true destination. This is especially true with asylum seekers, who may arrive in Greece or Italy, for example, but then try to make their way to "easier" countries like Sweden or Norway.

North Africans in France

Turks in Germany:

Towards a common European Union immigration policy

All Member States of the European Union (EU) are affected by the flow of international migration. They have agreed to develop a common immigration policy at EU level. The European Commission has made proposals for developing this policy, most of which have now become EU legislation. The main objective is to better manage migration flows by a coordinated approach which takes into account the economic and demographic situation of the EU.

In spite of the restrictive immigration policies which have been in place since the 1970s in most Member States, large numbers of legal and illegal migrants have continued to come to the EU together with asylum-seekers. Taking advantage of persons seeking a better life, smuggling and trafficking networks have taken hold across the EU. This situation meant that considerable resources have had to be mobilized to fight illegal migration especially to target traffickers and smugglers. Furthermore, it is recognized that the EU needs migrants in certain sectors and regions in order to deal with its economic and demographic needs.

Realizing that a new approach to managing migration was necessary, the leaders of the EU set out at the October 1999 European Council in Tampere (Finland) the elements for a common EU immigration policy. The approach agreed in Tampere in 1999 was confirmed in 2004 with the adoption of The Hague programme, which sets the objectives for strengthening freedom, security and justice in the EU for the period 2005-2010.

Integration In September 2007, the Commission presented the Third Annual Report on Migration

and Integration (COM (2007) 512), continuing the monitoring process of policy developments on admission and integration of third-country nationals in the EU. The report provides information on the establishment of the EU framework for integration up to June 2007 and it includes specific information about the various dimensions of the integration process in Member States for the calendar year 2005 and the first half of 2006.

Illegal immigration and return On 16 December 2008, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union

adopted Directive 2008/115/EC on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals as published in the Official Journal (L 348 of 24.12.2008). The transposition deadline for the Member States is 24.10.2010.

In July 2006 the Commission adopted a Communication on policy priorities in the fight against illegal immigration of third-country nationals (COM (2006) 402) which builds on the guiding principles and EU achievements and further develops new priorities. It follows a comprehensive approach, striking a balance between security and basic rights of individuals and thus addresses measures at all stages of the illegal immigration process.

In order to fully implement the Return Action Programme agreed in 2002, the Commission adopted in September 2005 a proposal for a Directive on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals. The objective of this proposal is to provide for clear, transparent and fair common rules concerning return, removal, use of coercive measures, temporary custody and re-entry while taking into full account the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of the persons concerned.

Tampere agenda The European Council agreed in Tampere ( Finland) in October 1999 on the elements

required for a EU immigration policy namely that: it be based on a comprehensive approach to the management of migratory flows so as to

find a balance between humanitarian and economic admission; it include fair treatment for third-country nationals aiming as far as possible to give them

comparable rights and obligations to those of nationals of the Member State in which they live;

a key element in management strategies must be the development of partnerships with countries of origin including policies of co-development;

As the first step in creating a common EU immigration policy, the European Commission presented in November 2000 a communication to the Council and the European Parliament in order to launch a debate with the other EU institutions and with Member States and civil society. The communication recommended a common approach to migration management which should take into account the following:

the economic and demographic development of the Union; the capacity of reception of each Member State along with their historical and cultural links

with the countries of origin; the situation in the countries of origin and the impact of migration policy on them (brain

drain); the need to develop specific integration policies (based on fair treatment of third-country

nationals residing legally in the Union, the prevention of social exclusion, racism and xenophobia and the respect for diversity).

This was followed in July 2001 by another communication which proposed the adoption of an open method of coordination for the Community immigration policy, to encourage the exchange of information between the Member States on the implementation of the common policy. The procedure comprises reaching agreement on a number of European objectives or guidelines which Member States would then incorporate into national action plans which would be reviewed on a regular basis.

Conclusion

It will be far more difficult to stop immigration than it was to initiate the immigration flow. A unified European approach, slashing the time to process requests and achieve final adjudication might help to decrease immigration. Immigration to Europe might have developed differently with tougher, more restrictive immigration policies, but as long as Europe offers opportunities for work, education, and personal safety, and as long as it offers a liberal democracy with the rights and privileges such a lifestyle entails, it will continue to attract mass immigration.

The West has always been proud of its moral standard of protecting human rights and giving refuge to persecuted individuals. Referral to human rights has catalyzed immigration. For example, the right to marry is recognized as a fundamental right that in many European countries brings conveyance of citizenship. However, in a society where arranged marriages are the norm and forced marriages are common, the right to marry can easily place the law on the side of the aggressor who coerces somebody else to marry rather than the victim. Redefining refugee status by creating so many categories that fulfill it renders that status meaningless. Not only does it encourage economic immigration, it actually hurts those who truly need refuge.