Integration of Third Country Nationals in the EU - Essay Example

Integration of third country nationals in EU In the aftermath of the Second World War a number of previously held European colonies gained independence. Despite their success in obtaining liberty they were empirically not able to develop themselves in the initial phases of their governance and joined the already huge block of third world countries. Western countries offered them huge opportunities and consequently large scale migrations began to take place. This trend that had begun for over a century ago has intensified in the last two decades followed up with large scale legal and illegal trafficking of individuals in the West especially the European countries. Introduction In the last 20 years the issue of migration of third world citizens to the European countries has gained particular importance and the member states of the European Union have shown special concern to the matter. The first such move to address the matter was taken in the early 1990's with the treaty of Amsterdam which was first such move of the European Council taken in order to safeguard the social and political rights of third country nationals within the Europe. Such a move along with the ongoing efforts in trying to curtail the immigration in the Europe and tightening the Immigration and Asylum policies was conceived by many observers a stride towards a new culture that will be tolerant, supportive and nondiscriminatory towards the immigrants. Consequently the European Council met in 1999 and drafted a set of procedures at Tampere that guaranteed political rights and a treatment to the third world citizens that would be analogous to EU nationals. The main aim of the conference was to design an integrated policy for the entire European Union. Despite these efforts to homogenize the policies regarding the assimilation of the third world national a number of imperative decisions regarding the employment and other important economic and social aspects were left with the member states and this marked for the insufficiency of the measures to a great extent. One of the factors underlining the varying responses amongst the Europeans has been the discrepancy in the level of exposure to the immigrants. Certain have developed a great deal of deal of acumen regarding the issue through continuous interaction with the immigrant inflow for over a long time as compared to these nations a few of the EU member states have only lately been faced with immigration. This factor has resulted in a wide variety of approaches to find a resolution to the matter. As the percentage of the non-Europeans increases and with the every chance of further enhancement in the number the need for a regulated and uniform effort becomes more than significant. Moreover to eliminate the possible threats of discrimination, social exclusion, xenophobia and racism it is extremely vital to make a concerted effort to develop an effective set of policies and procedures regarding the integration of the third country inhabitants. What is Integration This has been subject that has been dealt with respect to a number of principal subject areas including sociology, mathematics and a number of other sciences. Often it has been defined as a term but very seldom has it been looked upon as a concept. Integration as a concept in the context of this subject has been defined as a dynamic, multidimensional process that incorporates mutual socioeconomic, political, legal and cultural accommodation by all immigrants and residents of Member States of the European Union. The basic aim behind the introduction of the phenomenon is to assimilate a universal culture within Europe and to train the third world nationals in the local language, norms, values and to develop them as a permanent fragment, notwithstanding of the color, of the European Society. Importance of Integration to the EU member states Democracy and equality have been popular slogans of the West in the latter part of the 20th century. Realizing that equal contribution by all parties is at the heart of democracy and that non-Europeans make up a considerable population of the Western World a lot has been discussed about the democratic authenticity. The most imperative notion of the European debate was on how to assimilate its migrant population and reinforce its communal consistency. This issue has been surging within the media, in the parliament and has been on the catchphrases of the political parties. A number of important issues underline the degree of importance that is being attached to issue of immigrant's welfare within the European Union. Immigrants throughout the last fifty years have contributed to the population growth, in the mean time labor shortages have filled and competitiveness has been improved by the virtue of the third country nationals. One of other aspects that have led the member states to concentrate on integration is the deferred acknowledgment that with the prospect of aging and declining population the chances for the inflow of immigrants into Europe are an undeniable fact. Moreover the policy makers also realize that the individuals who come to fill up employment shortages, overseas students and families will need integration, whether their stay is permanent or temporary. Future employment needs have further motivated the member states to analyze the increasing need of integration. Challenges Associated with Integration of Third Country Nationals in EU The European Council Commission in its review in 2000 2001 outlined a number of challenges that have been facing the European countries in the context of integrating the third country nationals. It stressed on the fact that in order to allow the immigrants to feel as part of the society integration was extremely vital. Moreover it also stated that integration was a two way process and that it required a compromise from both the societies the recipient and immigrant. The commission identified that there was a need for a holistic approach and it was required to concentrate on the economic and social aspects of assimilation of the third country nationals in order to give them comparable standards of living to that of the European citizens. Following challenges are facing the European Union while designing the integration policies. Integration of immigrants into the labor market so as to avoid unemployment ratios from rising and to make effective use of the skilled and unskilled proficiency Education and language expertise to be conveyed to the third country nationals in order to aid them in adapting to the native culture Housing and accommodation issues to avoid illegal trafficking and people taking advantage of them Health and social utilities to be provided to the nationals and need to be guarded against situations of uncertainty and insecurity Social and cultural environment to be improved and a effort is to be made to enable the immigrants to be dynamically involved in the civil life Nationality and civic nationality so as to provide them rights comparable to the European Nationals It is necessary for the actors and organizations effective in the design of the policy like the NGO's, public sector groups etc to make active participation Particular needs of certain groups of migrants to be addressed for example the refugees, women and children Tackling with illegal migrants is vital to designing a proactive integration policy It is extremely important to deal with the racist groups and to protect minority groups against possible threats of discrimination or cultural harassment. Tampere Councils role in the Integration Policy Tampere Council was a follow up of the Lisbon strategy. It described the legal structure of integration policies at the European Union level. Subsequently the European Council met in Tampere and overtly called for a more dynamic integration strategy, the European Council espoused an armory of instruments in order to provide integration to third country national in the following perspective: The right of the person to reunify with his relatives that is call his family to the European Member state The standing of third-country nationals who are long-term residents and provision of rights comparable to European citizens Provision of Visa to third world citizens in order to conduct employment on paid basis or carry out self employment activities Allowing students and volunteers to enter into the European Union Revolutionizing the asylum policy and introduction of least requirements for the eligibility for an asylum seekers or refugee and lowest set of obligations for the qualification and status of third-country citizens. Steps to be comprehensively taken to combat racism as per European stand of developing a secular centre in this regard the Council called for the member states to incorporate strict measures to curtail racist activities and to provide complete security to victimized immigrants. Finally it called for the provision of equivalent benefits in social security and employee remuneration to the non European national to the same standard as that offered to EU members. Tampere council was based on the Lisbon mandate and the council planned to display its motive in a clear manner under the banner of a 'fair treatment for third country nationals'. The council aimed at designing a comprehensive set of strategies that would the EU to bring about economic growth and social cohesion. Discrimination on the basis of race, culture and religion was the most important issue that was addressed in the Tampere Council and it was effectively backed by the JHA council in October 2002. Tampere Council's ideas have set the basis for the modern strategies and framework on which the EU integration policy has been based. The measures and procedures that followed this breakthrough emphasized on these aspects but in empirical examination of progress the objectives that were laid down have met with minimal success. Developments in the Integration policy Over the years the European council and European Union have played an active role in designing policies and have promised a number of core rights to he third country nationals which they will acquire in a certain period of years. These measures were followed up with the realization of the error underlining the long held theory of the Europeans that the third country nationals would automatically assimilate within the native culture over a period of one generation. This popular concept of the mid-20th Century was seriously rattled when the Europeans saw formation of small minority communities within Europe. Especially the Muslims and Hindus refusing to give up their cultural backgrounds led to the recognition that integration would not come off naturally but a set of procedures and policies will have devised in order reinforce the naturalization process. The first such activity was undertaken in 1999 and a number of strict measures with serious involvement from the Member states have been drafted lately. Second Annual Report on Migration and Integration The first annual report on migration and integration was introduced by the European Commission for Communication in the year 2003, it stressed on the development of strong and coordinated policies on the national and European to fairly deal with the immigrants. This report was followed up three years later with the Second Annual report that was issued by the European Commission in June 2006. It was called the Second Annual Report on Migration and Integration (SEC (2006) 892) The Second Annual Report underlined the lately developed Hague programme and set the schema of Freedom, Security and Justice in the EU for the 2007-2011. The report described the events of immigrant assimilation and implementation of policies in the year 2004 it further provided a general idea of migration trends in the European Union. The changes were analyzed and actions that were taken at the member and European in the process of admission and assimilation of immigrants. The information was primarily developed to provide policy makers the research literature that evaluated the effectiveness of the measures that have been stated at the European level and most importantly the degree of adoption at the state level. This subsequently aided the Council Commission to scrutinize its methodology and correct the mistakes and build on the positive aspects in their next five year plan. The Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union "A Common Agenda for Integration - Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union" was approved by the Commission on the 1st of September 2005. this framework was a result of the concerted efforts of the European Council who had been pressing on the introduction of a universal integration policy agenda on the national and state level. It highlighted the basic principles which had been discussed and approved before and a special concern was taken in including the EU procedure. A wide array of actions was recommended at the national and EU level and a number of important aspects critical for successful integration were highlighted. Member States were encouraged to strengthen their efforts with a perspective to developing comprehensive national integration strategies, while new ways of ensuring consistency between actions taken at EU and national level were proposed. The framework aimed at a number of objectives and outlined principles that highlighted the ways of integrating the third world nationals. It emphasized on the issue of language learning and cultural conformity for the third world nationals, a particular was laid on avoiding discrimination as the commission realized that the major factor that could underpin the efforts to integrate would be racism. Moreover employment aspect of the immigrant was also spotted and it was expressed as being the important goal and challenge with respect to Integration policies. The framework was comprehensively designed and it covered almost all the challenges that had been previously stated and considered crucial. The Hague Programme The Hague Programme was approved by the European Council in the November of 2004 and it emphasized the requirement for a superior synchronization of national integration policies and EU scheme in this issue. It pressed on the adoption of common basic principles in drafting the initiatives for future integration policies. it was regarded as the basic program that would nurture democratic security and development for the third country nationals. Hague Programme pressed on the European Union to assist the Member States in devising integration policies by providing simple principles which they can adopt with respect to their legislative structure and assess according to their needs. Moreover Hague Programme was to serve as a source for Member States to explore how various actors of the integration policy including the EU, the NGO's and other groups can interact to develop a fool proof policy. Finally the programme was aimed at assisting the Council to EU knowledge base and to extract idea on timely basis to develop policies at national and local levels. The integration website Under the Hague programme ministry of integration was required to maintain a website through which it would interact with the commission and develop a public-private effort to integration policies for the future. The handbook on integration The notion behind developing the handbook struck the European council in the June of 2003 it was aimed at sharing information with the stake holders to identify useful areas and indicators underlining effective integration policies. The handbook was compiled with the view of sharing initiatives and ideas for drafting integration policies. The vital objective of the handbook was to share information regarding the best practices amongst the European states in order to aid the designing of comprehensive strategies and to undertake strategies management. All the programs and procedures stated above were aimed at designing a comprehensive set of strategies for the development of integration principles for betterment of the thirs country nationals. INT1 Programme INT1 is an EU funding programme that was designed to support the preparatory actions in terms of designing the integration policy. These funds were developed because throughout the European countries the member states had a different degree of experience in dealing with the immigrants this led to varying levels of measures that were being taken to counter the issue. These were thus against the European policy of homogenization and it therefore regulated funds in order to promote transnational networks of cooperation in designing policies and testing them and then implementing there at the continental level. Secondly it aimed at emphasizing and demonstrating the importance of immigrant to the European countries and to increase knowledge of the development of EU integration policies. Moreover it also aimed at holding and conducting meeting and regulating fund for it in order for the member states to meet at a transnational level, discuss issues and then incorporate best practices. INIT1 have been successful so far though financial goals have not been met but with the long-term goals in sight it is continuing to regulate capital in creating awareness and supporting research and development amongst the European member states to reinforce integration policies. Conclusion European countries have been faced with three problems in reaching a substantial integration strategy. First is the negative reaction of the Residents towards the third country citizens. Secondly, the key factors in the integration strategy which calls for social security, employment opportunities and family reunification are under the control of various ministries which are beyond the control of the commission and hence problems have experienced in coordinating a strategy in this regard. Finally, opinion regarding the integration policies differs throughout the European Union with countries having different objectives with respect to the level of exposure to the immigrant issue, this fact prevents the countries from greeing on common grounds regarding the policy. Though theoretically principles have been drafted but a full fledge universal implementation is yet to come. The European Commission, has comprehensive plans which if implemented would make an important input to the economic, social, cultural, and political integration third country nationals in Europe. Bibliography 1. "A dynamic integration policy granting equal rights and obligation." Justice and Home Affairs. 2007. European Commission. 10 Aug 2007 . Read More