EU and member states tools for migration integration
On February 27 Social Platform hosted a meeting with the Migration Policy Group (MPG) to discuss ‘What migration and integration measures are needed for employment, education and social inclusion?’. Members of Social Platform and the European NGO Platform on Migration and Asylum as well as representatives from DG Home and DG Employment participated.
MPG and London School of Economics conducted a research project looking at how the EU’s overall goals on employment, education and social inclusion include migrants. The researchers presented their findings (the final results will be published by MPG). The conclusions show that EU member states report selectively on indicators and on migrant integration as a whole. Employment and education showed to be the areas most reported on and social inclusion the least. In the 2013 Country-specific Recommendations (CSRs) migration was only mentioned six times. The European Migration Network reports were more standardised and also more comprehensive but the reporting was higher on e.g. high skilled migrants than low skilled. Member states also tended to be unclear in their definition of who is a migrant and also lumped together migrants with ‘other vulnerable groups’ (such as women, young people).
The participants discussed among others whether the inconsistency and lack of attention to migration depended on member states constraints in reporting or/and the quality of work by the author(s) behind the report. They also looked into the possibility of obliging member states to improve their reporting in order to impact their policy and commit politically, and at how to ensure more data are produced by e.g. OECD or others. Furthermore, different EU processes and tools were discussed: it was said that the Open Method of Coordination as a process is not being taken seriously, that stakeholders are not being involved properly in the development of the National Reform Programmes and that there will be a Mid-term Review of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Jan Niessen, Director at MPG proposed to further use the Zaragoza indicators to provide focus and structure for a common integration approach and reporting by member states.
The Commission commented on the limited EU competence in the area of integration while NGOs claimed that the long-term residence permit, the Family Reunification Directive and the anti-discrimination legislation all illustrate how the EU does have some competence in this field.
Social Platform welcomed the continuation of exchange of views between social NGOs and migration and asylum NGOs, together with MPG and representatives from the Commission. We will continue working on migration integration from a right based approach in access to social inclusion, employment, services and civil dialogue in respond to the new home affairs agenda and upcoming new Commission and Parliament.
2014-02-27
