This Commission staff working document comprises the second annual report on migration and integration. This report follows on from the first annual report published in 2004. The annual report aim to provide an overview of migration trends in the EU, analysing the changes and describing actions taken regarding the admission and integration of immigrants at national and EU level. They serve as a tool to review the development of the common immigration policy. The second annual report should be seen in the light of the recently adopted Hague Programme, setting the agenda on Freedom, Security and Justice in the EU for the next 5 years.

The present report is an intermediate document. It covers developments that took place in 2004. A major part of this document is a summary report on integration policies and recent developments in the EU-25 which is attached as an annex.

Main issues dealt with in this report are as follows:

Migratory movements in EU-25 : on 1 January 2003, the number of third-country nationals residing in the EU-25 was 15.2 million, i.e. 3.35% of the total population. In 2005, the population of the EU-25 increased by 2 million mainly due to net migration of 1.7 million. Net migration in the EU-25 was 3.7 per 1000 habitants. Positive net migration was recorded in all Member States except Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands and Estonia. Family reunification is very important in many Member States, accounting for 75% of inflows in France and over 50% in Denmark and Sweden.

Trends in national integration policies : major changes in immigration and integration policies are occurring in several EU countries. New approaches to integration are needed which go beyond the integration of minorities and refugees. The mainstreaming of integration issues needs to be strengthened.

A certain number of Member States now require new immigrants to fulfil certain integration obligations. There is a new emphasis on obligatory integration courses, containing both language instruction and civic orientation. In the case of the Netherlands, it is planned that immigrants coming for reasons of family formation or reunification, as well as refugees, will in the future need to meet certain pre-departure standards. In some countries, there is an emphasis on possible sanctions in case of non-compliance with obligations arising from compulsory integration measures such as cuts in financial support or welfare aid.

Integration in the labour market remains a priority. A coherent and planned strategy to combat discrimination and promote integration in the labour market seems to be missing. On the other hand, more importance is being attached to the question of ethnic or migrant entrepreneurs whose number has been increasing constantly in most of the Member States. An increasing number of Member States attach growing importance to the participation of minority groups in the political decision-making process, although overall progress is slow.

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PURPOSE : to propose a common agenda for the integration third-country nationals in the EU.

CONTENT : this Communication is the Commission’s first response to the invitation of the European Council to establish a coherent European framework for integration. The cornerstones of such a framework are proposals for concrete measures to put the 11 common basic principles into practice, together with a series of supportive EU mechanisms, including the preparatory actions (INTI) and the proposed European Fund for Integration (see CNS/2005/0048 ). Taking into account existing EU policy frameworks, the Communication provides new suggestions for action both at EU and national level. Member States are encouraged to strengthen their efforts with a perspective to developing comprehensive national integration strategies, while new ways of ensuring consistency between actions taken at EU and national level are being proposed.

The actions suggested at national level are given as possible guidelines designed to help in the conception of national policies and programmes. They are also actions which can be supported under the proposals which the Commission has made for the European Fund for Integration to succeed INTI. The actions proposed at European level extend and develop activities which have shown their usefulness over recent years, in particular the promotion and support of networking amongst practitioners, the transfer of good practice and the exchange of information.

The main integration methods proposed by the Commission can be summarised as follows :

4) integration of immigrants in the labour market : the effective and responsible integration of immigrants in the labour market constitutes an important contribution to reaching the Lisbon targets. The Commission stimulates and supports Member States’ efforts in employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, stressing the gender perspective to fully utilise the potential of immigrant women in the labour market. The new Integrated Guidelines for Jobs and Growth call on Member States to take action to increase the employment of immigrants;

5) the promotion of fundamental rights, non discrimination and equal opportunities : EU legislation provides a strong framework of anti-discrimination legislation. In its Communication on a framework strategy for non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all, the Commission stresses the need to reinforce efforts to promote equal opportunities for all in order to tackle the structural barriers faced by migrants, ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups. The proposed European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in 2007 and the envisaged European Year of Inter-cultural Dialogue in 2008 will be major awareness-raising initiatives contributing to these objectives;

6) integration measures need adequate financial resources : the EU supports Member States’ integration policies through a number of financial instruments. The Preparatory Actions for integration of third-country nationals (INTI) have been important in promoting activities at local level, strengthening networks and the exchange of information and good practices between Member States, regional and local authorities and other stakeholders. They have attracted great interest but lacked sufficient resources to match the vast needs in this area. Under the financial perspectives 2007-2013, the Commission has proposed new solidarity instruments, among them a European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals, based on the CBPs. The objectives of the Fund are complementary to the European Social Fund (ESF), which builds on the experiences of the Community Initiative EQUAL in supporting innovative approaches to the prevention of labour market discrimination of migrants. The Commission’s proposal for the ESF period 2007-2013 includes a specific focus on reinforcing the social inclusion of people at a disadvantage. The European Regional Development Fund also supports certain integration measures.

In addition, the communication also refers to five ongoing processes and initiatives which should together form the common European framework for integration:

§ National Contact Points on Integration : NCPs will continue to play an important role in monitoring progress across policy fields and in ensuring that efforts at national and EU level are mutually reinforcing;

§ Handbook on Integration : t he Handbook, addressed to policy-makers and practitioners at local, regional, national and EU level, was welcomed by stakeholders. The second edition, planned for 2006, will focus on housing and urban issues, access to health and social services, integration in the labour market, mainstreaming and integration infrastructure and will incorporate the Common Basic Principles (CBPs) firmly into the analysis;

§ Integration website : The Hague Programme called explicitly for the development of a widely accessible Internet website. As a first phase, the Commission will launch a tender for a web portal for European experiences on immigrant integration;

§ Involving stakeholders : a comprehensive approach involving stakeholders at all levels is essential for the success of integration policies. For this purpose, the Commission would set up a European Integration Forum;

§ Annual Report on Migration and Integration : t he Commission’s Annual Report will be an important instrument to monitor the further development of integration policies in the European Union.

CONCLUSIONS : t he Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union put forward by this Communication represents a major commitment and demonstrates that the Commission is giving integration a high place on its policy agenda. A wide range of existing EU policies and financial instruments can help to support the efforts of national authorities and civil society. The challenge of the future will be to promote concerted efforts by all relevant stakeholders in order to maximise the impact and effectiveness of these instruments. The Member States, together with the Commission, should take the necessary steps to develop the Common Agenda for Integration in a forward-looking and focused manner. The Ministers in charge of integration, in close co-operation with the Commission, should hold once a year a political debate on the integration of third-country nationals in the EU and assess the need for further action. The Commission also hopes that the other Institutions and stakeholders will join efforts to achieve the successful integration of third-country nationals into our societies.

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PURPOSE : to present the first annual report on migration and integration.

CONTENT : in June 2003 the Thessaloniki European Council invited the Commission "to present an Annual Report on Migration and Integration in Europe, in order to map EU-wide migration data, immigration and integration policies and practices. This Report, which should contain an accurate and objective analysis of the above issues, will help develop and promote policy initiatives for more effective management of migration in Europe". This Communication initiates the reporting process.

This report gives an overview of migration trends in Europe, analyses and discusses the changes in immigration and describes actions taken regarding the admission and integration of immigrants at national and European level. The report constitutes a new instrument to review the development of the common immigration policy.

Analysis : this report confirms that immigration continues to play an important role in the economic and social development of the European Union. In the context of an ageing and shrinking working-age population, increased immigration flows are likely and increasingly necessary to meet the needs of the enlarged EU. Europe must prepare for this. In this respect, there is a need for a level-playing field in terms of admission policies for economic migrants across the EU to be able to respond to labour gaps successfully and in a more transparent and coherent manner. While bearing in mind the inability of the Council to agree on the directive on economic immigration, the Commission hopes that the launch shortly of a Green Paper will pave the way for a new European legal instrument on this matter.

According to the report, admission and integration policies are inseparable and should mutually reinforce each other. With respect to integration in the labour market, it will be important, at Member States' level, to reflect further on the structures and instruments in place, in particular on the capacities to identify skills and labour shortages and to ensure higher participation of immigrants in the labour market. The Commission will support the exchange of experiences on these issues within the framework of the European Employment Strategy. In this respect the Commission has proposed a new and ambitious programme of exchange of experiences in the context of the Employment Committee, which can address these issues. The Community Programme for Employment Incentive Measures will also be used to improve the knowledge base concerning integration in the labour market. This report has shown that the assessment of skills and professional qualifications of immigrants remains important to make better use of their full potential. Facilitating the recognition of immigrants’ qualifications by applying to immigrants the same criteria for the recognition of foreign qualifications as applied to nationals, would be an important step.

Towards a further integration : in parallel, Member States are also increasingly concerned about the integration of the newly arrived in particular ensuring that immigrants understand and respect the fundamental norms and values of the host society and with respect to language abilities, which are major barriers to integration. Inevitably Member States will be reluctant to open up for further economic migration, unless they are able to integrate newcomers well into all aspects of society. The need for specific integration measures is also a concern raised by third countries during discussion of migration issues. This highlights the need to strengthen and develop policy instruments to address the integration of third country nationals, in connection with progress on admission policies. The INTI Preparatory Actions are a further step to promoting specific integration measures for third country nationals by providing new ideas, exchanging good practice and identifying priorities.

Efforts are needed to boost the integration of existing immigrants. This calls for comprehensive integration policies, combining both mainstreaming and specific programmes. Mainstreaming immigration means actively and openly taking into account immigrant issues in all relevant policies and measures at EU and national level. One of the aims of the Annual Report on Migration and Integration is to ensure that the needs of immigrants are properly streamlined in all EU policies affecting them and to inform the Council on progress made. This first report shows that in some major policy fields the mainstreaming of immigration issues remains slow and that further efforts are needed to develop effective policies.

A number of commitments have, however, been taken at EU level since the adoption of the Communication on immigration, integration and employment, within the European Employment Strategy and the Social Inclusion Process in particular, and some positive trends are noticeable at national level. However, most commitments still need to be translated into action; recourse to targets is limited and developing a more systematic and comparable collection of information and data at Community level is crucial to allow for better monitoring of the impact policies have on immigrants. The Commission will pay particular attention to monitoring the progress achieved by the Member States in the next National Action Plans for employment and those for social inclusion. Moreover, exchange of experiences within the National Contact Points on Integration will also be of help to ensure mainstreaming of immigration concerns at national and EU level and the development of good practice which addresses the specificities of the target groups. In the light of the rising importance of and of the priority given to migrants’ integration in Community funding, it is important that information on the use of such funds to promote migrants integration is improved.

To make progress, it is important to increase dialogue with migrant organisations. Dialogue between different communities built on mutual confidence is a crucial condition for supporting migrants’ integration and maintaining social cohesion. At EU level the Commission encourages immigrants to take an active part in the debate. This report has shown that integration policies and religious and cultural issues continue to be major challenges in most Member States. With a view to enhancing the dialogue with migrant organisations and as a mean to overcome prejudices, ignorance and intolerance as well as religious extremism within the EU, the Commission will give priority to the creation of networks and co-operation under the INTI preparatory actions for 2005.

Another major issue is the growing diversity of populations in European cities which remains a challenge for many Member States. It will be important to strengthen efforts to exchange experiences and best practices at EU level, in particular in the context of the Social Inclusion Strategy. The Commission will also propose to the national contact points on integration to include this subject in its work programme.

The establishment of a common legal framework setting out the rights and obligations of third country nationals, underpins the EU approach to the integration of immigrants. The first EU directives have now been adopted and the Commission will closely monitor their transposition into national legislation. The Commission will also review the level of political rights granted to third country nationals during this process.

Conclusion : the legislative framework and the policy instruments described above constitute important components in the practical implementation of integration measures. There is a need, however, for greater coherence with respect to the objectives which such measures seek to fulfil. In addition the Thessaloniki European Council stressed the need for developing a common European framework within which national policies should develop and envisaged the definition of common basic principles with a view to intensify the development of such a framework. The Commission will make the necessary proposals to define a set of common principles which could become the basis for the adoption of specific objectives to be pursued in the relevant policy fields.

The national contact points on integration can play an important role in this process. In light of these developments and with a view to strengthening the European framework for integration ahead of the new constitutional Treaty, the Commission will consider the need for setting up a more formal basis within which exchange of information on integration could take place in the future without prejudices to the European Employment Strategy and the European Inclusion Strategy.

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CDR0223/2003
OJ C 109 30.04.2004, p. 0033-0045

T5-0028/2004
OJ C 092 16.04.2004, p. 0339-0390 E

T5-0028/2004

Debate in Parliament

A5-0445/2003

A5-0445/2003

CES1613/2003
OJ C 080 30.03.2004, p. 0092-0102

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