Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

CHApTER nInE
Europe will
be a credible
international voice
on facilitating
low-skilled labour
mobility and
strengthening
the rights of
migrants only
when labour
mobility becomes
one part of
a package of
responses to its
demographic
challenges.
184
directive on seasonal employment (com, 2010) has
yet to be agreed) (see box 9.3). migration remains a
shared competence between the commission and
member States 136 and labour migration/mobility
is an area where governments are not prepared to
cede sovereignty despite considerable secondary
legislation adopted in this area. 137 In the absence of
the political will to expand legal routes for migrant
workers, the commission’s hands are tied. Given
the economic and financial crisis, the access of lowskilled
workers to labour markets is a particularly
divisive issue, as exemplified by the problems in
honouring the ‘mobility’ component offered as part
of the ‘3 ms’ (money, market access, mobility) to the
‘arab Spring’ countries. Europe will be a credible
international voice on facilitating low-skilled labour
mobility and strengthening the rights of migrants
Box 9.3 The proposal for a Directive on Seasonal Employment
The proposal for a Directive on Seasonal
Employment (COM, 2010) is currently the most
important EU-level initiative concerning lowskilled
migrants even if it only targets seasonal
employment and not all ‘low-skilled’ work. The
latter falls within the scope of the Directive
2011/98 ensuring migrants’ rights but allowing
Member States to set the admission rules. The
seasonal proposal acknowledges that there is a
more permanent need for seasonal labour within
the EU and aims to improve access procedures
once Member States have decided to let such
workers enter. It also seeks to protect migrants’
EuropEan rEport on DEvElopmEnt 2013
only when labour mobility becomes one part of a
package of responses to its demographic challenges.
the European commission developed the
Global approach to migration in 2005, which
became the Global approach to migration and
mobility (Gamm) in 2011. the Gamm provides
a rather balanced, ‘migration-friendly’ approach
to all aspects of migration policy and stresses the
importance of cooperation 138 . the commission has
used structured dialogue and mobility partnerships
to implement the Gamm. these are intended to
ensure that migration is well governed and permits
greater mobility. before the Gamm was revised
in 2011, some observers (e.g. carrera and Sagrera,
2009) maintained that the partnerships were being
used in return for re-admission agreements. to
rights and to ensure equal treatment across
the EU. The proposal foresees a multi-seasonal
permit. In a debate in Council in July 2010
several ministers questioned whether the rights
accorded to third-country nationals should be
equivalent to those enjoyed by EU nationals, in
particular in relation to social benefits. Other
delegations questioned whether the proposal on
seasonal workers was in line with the principle
of subsidiarity (European Parliament, 2010). In
its comments on the proposal, the ILO criticised
the absence of references to equal treatment with
nationals (ILO, 2010).
136 a common legal framework on immigration and asylum has gradually emerged in recent years. member States have committed to a ‘common
Eu immigration policy’, which includes a common European asylum system, partnerships with countries of origin and transit and the fair
treatment of third-country nationals. although the lisbon treaty extends qualified co-decisions based on majority votes in the area of migration
and asylum, the right of member States to determine how many third-country nationals it admits is not affected.
137 Directive on long-term residents (Directive 2003/109), on family reunification (Directive 2003/86), on highly qualified employment (Directive
2009/50), on researchers (Directive 2005/71), on students (Directive 2004/114) and on migrant workers’ rights in general (Directive 2011/98).
138 the Eu’s Gamm is based on four pillars of which the first three deal with migration processes (legal migration and mobility; irregular migration
and trafficking and international protection and asylum) while the fourth seeks to maximize the development impact of migration and mobility
that addresses issues such as remittances, the engagement of diaspora in development, mitigating brain drain, capacity building for national policies
on managing migration, the social costs of migration and mainstreaming of migration in development policy.