Labour market performance and migration flows - European ...

European CommissionOccasional Paper 60, Volume IEuro-Mediterranean Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy – might foster amore positive climate for such a change.6.1 The Emergence of an EU Migration Policy and the Consideration of Labour NeedsSome of the factors that have motivated EU member states to coordinate in the field ofmigration policy are related to:i) the increase in challenges posed by mounting migration pressures, 35ii) labour market demands,iii) the necessity of cooperation in the wake of increasing EU integration and enlargementdrives, in particular the free circulation of persons within the EU implemented throughthe Schengen Agreement which came into force in 1995 in the wake of the SingleEuropean Act establishing the Single Market.The Thematic Background Paper (Venturini, Fakhoury and Jouant 2009, Sections 1.1 and1.2) provides an overview of the emergence of an EU migration policy.A turning point linking the development of the EU’s migration policy and labour marketconsiderations was the Lisbon Strategy adopted in 2000. Since this date, more and moreattention has been given to relating integration policies to employment and labour, examiningimmigration in the context of demographic ageing and skill shortages, and devising policiesthat take into consideration legal migration channels to respond to labour needs. Indeed, theLisbon Strategy was a stepping stone in the process leading to the European EmploymentStrategy. 36 It became evident that to maximize labour supply and reach these ambitiousemployment rate targets, it should take into consideration the labour and economic features ofimmigration, and that these features should be integrated in a strategy that could encourageskill development and mobility. In its 2000 Communication on a Community ImmigrationPolicy, the European Commission already underlined in that more attention should be givento the potential contributions of third-country nationals in the EU labour market and that“channels for legal immigration to the Union should now be made available for labourmigrants.” 37Another milestone in the making of an EU-wide migration policy was the SevilleEuropean Council of 2002, which focused on fighting irregular migration and stressedreadmission, hence emphasising Member States’ preoccupations with migration governanceand security issues rather than with economic immigration. The Conclusions of the Councilaimed specifically at incorporating third countries as EU partners in migration management.Thus, the conclusions urged that EU cooperation with third countries include a clauseentailing joint migration management, and readmission in the case of irregular migration.35 Notably the increase in irregular migration, the need to manage migration flows and mobility as well as the free flow of workers within the EU, human trafficking, and the socioeconomiccosts of asylum.36 The Luxembourg European Council in November 1997 launched the European Employment Strategy (EES), also known as 'the Luxembourg process' whose aim is to reform the EUeconomic agenda and meet challenges posed by the EU labour market’s needs and demands. The objectives fixed by this strategy revolve around full employment, quality of work andproductivity.37 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community Immigration Policy, Brussels 22.11.200, COM (2000) 757 final, p. 3, available fromhttp://www.statewatch.org/docbin/com/30.00757.pdf.82