Migration in the European Union (EU) represents both an opportunity and a challenge. The increase in the free movement of EU citizens and the gradual development of a common migration policy is one of the important features of the evolution of the EU in recent years. The EU recognises the importance of migration to the EU, in that a balanced, comprehensive and common migration policy will help the EU to seize opportunities while tackling the related challenges.
The EU’s migration policy, which is currently under development, is built upon the values of solidarity and responsibility. As reported by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), migration into the EU is an important issue, and according to projections of the EU statistics office (Eurostat), the population growth in the EU up to 2025 will be mainly dependent on migration. Moreover, without positive net migration, the population would already have declined in some EU States, with the working age population predicted to decline by some 20 million between 2010 and 2030.
However, at first glance, the EU's current economic challenges might make it difficult to understand the necessity for legal migration and mobility channels. But it is necessary to bear in mind that, even with an overall EU unemployment rate of around 10%, increasing to 22.1% for youths under the age of 25, many EU Member States are already experiencing labour and skills shortages in various sectors.
Last May, the European Commission published the, ‘Third Annual Report on Migration and Asylum’. According to this report most EU Member States are concentrating their efforts on addressing unemployment and increasing the employability of their own resident population rather than migrant workers to address labour shortages. Currently, the EU Member States tend to focus more on (highly-) skilled workers in their approach to economic migration of third-country nationals, although quite a number of them also require low skilled workers, albeit, in most cases, for a temporary period.
The ongoing upheavals in the wake of the Arab Spring were expected to add to the migration pressures affecting some EU Member States. According to a research conducted this year by the Migration Policy Centre, ‘Migration after the Arab Spring’, migration inflows to Europe from North African and Middle East countries, have been more modest than originally anticipated and have largely been confined to Italy and Malta. This crisis has exposed tensions between Member States over the handling of mass migration movements, and over immigration policy more generally. These dramatic developments represent a fundamental challenge to prevailing assumptions about the causes, patterns and impacts of migration movements into and within Europe.
In fact the Maltese Government agrees with the European Commission’s position in its ‘Third Annual Report on Migration and Asylum’, in that migration and mobility can provide a positive contribution to the EU’s growth agenda. However, this will depend on making sure that migration meets the labour needs in individual Member States. Not all Member States face labour shortages; and even those that do, have different labour needs. Each Member State must continue to take into account its own labour market situation and competence in determining the volumes of admission.
In an interview with the European Policy Centre last March, António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees believes that that the Arab Spring represented an opportunity for Europe to act and take centre stage. But for that to happen, current attitudes to migration must first change. He went on to say that fertility in Europe is declining and its population is ageing. Europe cannot survive without migration. Migration is an essential component of its future.
According to data published last week by Eurostat, in 2010, 810,500 persons acquired citizenship of an EU Member State, compared with 776,100 the previous years. The new citizens in the EU came from Africa (29% of the total number of individuals acquiring citizenship), Asia (23%), non-EU European countries (19%), North and South America (19%), another EU Member State (9%) and Oceania (1%). The highest number of citizenships were granted by the UK - 195,000 persons, France - 143,000, Spain -124,000 and Germany - 105,000; together accounted for 70% of all citizenships granted by the EU Member States. The number of citizenships granted can also be related to the number of resident foreigners i.e. non-nationals resident in the Member State. The highest rates were registered in Portugal (5.6 citizenships granted per 100 resident foreigners), Poland (5.0), Sweden (4.9), the United Kingdom (4.6) and Malta (4.5), The largest groups that acquired citizenship of a Member State were citizens of Morocco (67,000 people), Turkey (49,900), Ecuador (45,200), India (34,700) and Colombia (27,500).
The development of a forward-looking, broad and comprehensive European Migration Policy from which all stakeholders can benefit, is and will continue to be an essential approach for the EU, not only in economic terms, but also in respect to the social and cultural aspects of European societies. Well-managed migration can help to prevent labour shortages and demographic problems to meet the needs of the EU Member States, in partnership with third countries and in full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Brenda Azzopardi is an Executive - MEUSAC