Labour market performance and migration flows - European ...

Chapter IFinal Reportobjectives are much more articulated, global and ambitious than those of the EMP. Morocco andTunisia are certainly the countries where the Action Plans are the most advanced in this respect, butmanagement of migration flows as well as visa facilitations are on each of the partners’ agenda,although implementation is yet far from satisfactory for the partners. So the statement that the ENPconstitutes an important “policy shift” towards the Southern Mediterranean partners (Del Sarto andSchumacher 2005) on the basis of which the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership has been re-stimulated isfully warranted in the field of migration.This shift has been echoed as well at the multilateral level. The Five Year Work Programme of theBarcelona Summit (28 November 2005) called for enhanced cooperation in the fields of Migration,Social Integration, Justice and Security through a comprehensive and integrated approach.This chapter contains 6 objectives, among which:a) The promotion of legal migration opportunities (facilitation of the legal movement ofindividuals, recognising that these constitute an opportunity for economic growth; fairtreatment and integration policies for legal migrants; facilitation of the flow of remittancetransfers; and recognition of the need to address “brain drain”);b) A significant reduction in the level of illegal migration (trafficking in human beings andloss of life through hazardous sea and border crossings);c) To contribute to these objectives, it was decided, among other measures, to:d) Hold a Ministerial meeting to discuss all issues pertinent to migration;e) Develop mechanisms for practical cooperation and sharing experiences on managingmigration flows humanely, (deepen dialogue with countries of origin and transit andexplore options for providing assistance for countries of origin and transit);f) Promote schemes for safer, easier, less expensive channels for the efficient transfer ofmigrants’ remittances;g) Develop ways to assist capacity building for those national institutions in partner countriesdealing with expatriates;h) Promote legal migration opportunities and the integration of migrants;i) Enhance cooperation to fight illegal migration. This cooperation should involve all aspectsof illegal migration, such as the negotiation of different kinds of readmission agreements,the fight against human trafficking and related networks as well as other forms of illegalmigration, and capacity building in border management and migration.On the spur of this momentum, the First Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Migrationwas held in Albufeira (Algarve) on 19 November 2007 under the Portuguese Presidency. 64 In thismeeting, political and operational conclusions were approved. Facilitating legal movement isconsidered as one of the key elements of the cooperation “being aware of the globally positive effectof legal migration in terms of development.” It was therefore proposed to “analyse the possibilities offacilitating and simplifying legal migration procedures for workers in demand, in order to improvelegal channels for migration.” These efforts would focus on “different categories of legal workers andcould also include different forms of mobility such as circular and temporary migration, taking intoaccount the needs of the Euro-Mediterranean countries labour markets as well as in terms ofdevelopment.” “The needs of the countries of origin in terms of transferring competences andalleviating the consequences of the brain drain that migration can represent” and “the possibilities offacilitating and simplifying legal migration procedures for workers in demand, in order to improvelegal channels for migration” were also taken into account. A series of measures were adopted, such as64 Ministerial Conclusions of the first Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Migration, 2007-11-19http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20071119Conclusoeseuromed.htm.95