Labour market performance and migration flows - European ...

European CommissionOccasional Paper 60, Volume I“In a Europe with no internal borders, the changing demands of an ageing society and a labourmarket in constant evolution have challenged established assumptions about migration fromoutside the EU. A new global approach is needed so that migration strikes the right balancebetween the risk of labour market shortages, economic impacts, negative social consequences,integration policies and external policy objectives.” 145The 2008 Communication on A Common Immigration Policy for Europe: Principles, Actions andTools focuses on ten principles grouped under three main headings: prosperity, solidarity andsecurity. The principles stress the importance of strengthening the relation between legalimmigration and the socio-economic development in the EU, emphasizing solidarity among themember states and devising partnerships with the countries of origin and transit, and lastly,ensuring that the rules governing legal immigration are met and that illegal immigration isefficiently curbed. 146 The Communication specifically targets immigration in relation to “futurelabour and skill shortages” with a view to increasing “the EU’s growth potential and prosperity”. 147It furthermore addresses the link between “the employment and social impact of migration of thirdcountrynationals” in the framework of a common immigration policy, and stresses that “economicimmigration in the EU will need to be assessed” by taking into consideration “the match betweenskills of the immigrants and national labour market needs”. 148 Also, the importance of creatinglegal migration and integration channels for permanent and temporary migrants and of matchingskills with labour market needs is underscored. More importantly, this document establishes that“the most important contribution of immigration to the EU economy and competitiveness will be tohelp, alongside and as an essential complement of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, to fill inarising and future labour and skill gaps on the EU labour markets.” 149 Another important aspect isthat labour migration in the Communication is considered as a typology of legal immigration to theEU, thus consolidating the link between managing legal flows of migration and labourconsiderations. 150Another important benchmark linking EU common migration policy to labour considerations is the“Pact on Immigration and Asylum” that the French Council Presidency proposed in 2008. 151 Thepact suggests encouraging legal migration against a backdrop of employment and education, andstresses the importance of circular migration and knowledge and skill transfer as a fundamental EUlabour strategy. To these ends, special emphasis is laid on the conclusion of “EU-level or bilateralagreements with the countries of origin and of transit containing, as appropriate, clauses on theopportunities for legal migration adapted to the labour market situation in the Member States…” 152145 http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/pdf/COM2007_581_en.pdf, pp. 4-5.146 Available from http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/402.147 COM(2008) 359 final, “A Common Immigration Policy for Europe: Principles, actions and tools,” Brussels, 17.6.2008, P. 3.http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0359:FIN:EN:PDF.148 Idem, p.6.149 See MEMO/08/402 Brussels, 17 June 2008, A Common Immigration Policy for Europe, 1-5, p. 5.150 Idem, p. 5.151 Amongst other important issues, this pact stresses the importance of organizing legal immigration in accordance with the priorities, needs and reception capacities of each EU memberstate, to encourage integration, to fight illegal immigration by making sure that irregular migrants go back to their country of origin or to a country of transit, to ensure a more effectiveborder control management, and to devise partnerships with countries of origin and of transit so as to strengthen links between migration and development.152 See the text of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum available on http://www.euractiv.com/docad/pacteEN.doc, p. 13.172