Andr

1
THE EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMY, SOCIETY, AND POLITY

• by
• Andrés Rodríguez-Pose
• London School of Economics
• Oxford University Press
• ISBN 0-19-874286-X

2
Part II
SOCIETY
3
Chapter 4
Migration and xenophobia
4
Introduction

• While Europe ages, neighbouring countries have
  young and dynamic populations who find few
  outlets in their local labour markets
• Result development of large migration flows
  towards Europe
• Many see this trend as a solution for population
  ageing and to ease social and economic pressure
  in the country of origin of migrants
• Many others see migration as a threat, leading to
  xenophobia and the emergence of racist attitudes
  and parties
• European legislation has been tightened in order
  to restrict migration into Europe

5
Migration and its forms (I)

• Definition of migration
• The movement or displacement of a person or a
  number of persons from one place to another.
• Forms of migration
• Individual or group migration
• Regional, inter-regional, international or
  intercontinental
• Temporary or permanent
• Legal and illegal

6
Migration and its forms (II)

• Forms of migration (II)
• Economic migration when people move in search of
  jobs and/or a better life
• Types of economic migration
• Migrant or employer-initiated
• Economic migration is closely linked to long-term
  economic cycles
• Non-economic migration Causes
• Natural disaster (the destruction of the island
  of Montserrat by a volcanic eruption, floods,
  earthquakes, droughts)
• War
• Political and/or social persecution (political
  and religious beliefs, race, ethnicity, gender)
• Division between political refugees and asylum
  seekers

7
Mass migration in post-war Europe (I)

• In modern times migration out of Europe has
  predominated
• America, Australia and South Africa as the main
  destinations
• At the beginning of the 20th century more than a
  million Europeans a year were leaving the
  Continent
• The second half of the 20th century has seen a
  reversal of this trend
• Outward migration has been replaced by migration
  within and into Western Europe
• First, 25 million refugees back to their places
  of origin (mainly flow east-west, including 12
  million Germans)
• Then migration from former Communist regimes to
  the West (3.8 million East Germans until the
  erection of the Berlin Wall)

8
Mass migration in post-war Europe (II)

• Since the 1950s emergence of South/North economic
  migration
• Basically in low-skilled and poorly paid sectors
  (rejected by the local workforce)
• Several waves and destination
• 1950s Italians moving to Germany, Switzerland,
  and France
• Late 1950s and 1960s Spaniards and Portuguese
  (same destinations)
• 1960s Turks and Yugoslavs (to Germany) and
  workers from the Maghreb (to France)
• Irish to Britain and Finns to Sweden
• Migration very often employer-initiated and
  state-managed
• Large volumes of migration
• Migrants represented 5 of the pop. of the
  Netherlands 5 to 10 of France, Germany and
  Sweden 10 of Belgium 15 of Switzerland and
  25 of Luxembourg.

9
Mass migration in post-war Europe (III)

• Jobs for migrants varied
• West Germany Jobs in manufacturing (15 in
  construction)
• France 30 in construction. Smaller proportion
  as health workers and manufacturing
• UK West Indians as civil servants, South Asians
  in textiles
• As did the formal rights of immigrants
• Germany, Austria and Switzerland Gastarbeiters
  (high levels of job security but low protection
  without job contract)
• UK, France and the Netherlands Rights of
  immigrants to stay, generally more developed
  (possibility to apply for citizenship after a
  period living in the country)
• The crisis of the 1970s brought South/North
  migration in Europe almost to a halt
• Stock of migrants fell by 1 million (or 22 of
  stock)
• Return migration by European workers
• Return migration less evident for non-EU citizens

10
The renewal of migration in the 1990s

• Several factors have led to a renewal of
  migration in the 1990s
• Economic and social factors
• The economic bonanza of the second half of the
  1990s
• The reduction of unemployment rates associated to
  the introduction a labour market flexibility
• The higher level of qualification of local
  workers
• The demographic boom in neighbouring areas of the
  world
• Political factors
• The fall of the Berlin Wall
• The implementation of the principle of free
  movement of people after the Single Market.

11
Foreign or foreign-born population
12
Differences between migration in the 1950s and
1990s (I)

• The traditional North/South division has been
  completely slashed
• Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and
  Spain are no longer sources of emigrants, but
  have positive migration balances (in the case of
  Italy since as early as 1972)
• Intra-EU migration is no longer South/North but
  occurs in both directions (case of Ireland,
  Sun-belt phenomena)
• The Mediterranean sea (and the former Iron
  Curtain) are becoming the new Rio Grande of Europe

13
Differences between migration in the 1950s and
1990s (II)

• Employer initiated migration has almost become a
  thing of the past
• In contrast to more common practices in the US,
  Canada, or Australia.
• European employers and governments are more
  reluctant to initiate migration.
• Some exceptions Attempt by the German government
  in 2000 to recruit IT experts in India
• Migration has become almost exclusively
  migrant-initiated

14
Differences between migration in the 1950s and
1990s (III)

• Increase of clandestine and illegal immigration
• As a result of the tightening of national and
  European immigration legislation
• More migrants decide to come and stay in Europe
  illegally
• Flourishing of mafias, racketeers and organised
  crime syndicates trying to smuggle immigrants
  into Europe
• Diversification of immigrant groups
• Highly qualified migrants
• Low-skilled economic migrants and clandestines
• Refugees and asylum seekers

15
Migration of the highly qualified (I)

• Migration of the highly qualified has flourished
  during the 1990s
• Basically in sectors such as finance, banks,
  insurance, and business services
• But increasingly also in fashion, design and RD
• The main beneficiaries has been the financial
  centres and large urban areas of the Continent
  (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Madrid, Milan,
  Amsterdam)
• Increasing importance of airport hubs
• Recruitment in many of these sectors is
  increasingly happening at a European, if not
  global, level

16
Migration of the highly qualified (II)

• One of the triggers of the increased mobility has
  been the implementation of the principle of free
  mobility of labour in the SEM.
• No longer are work or residence permits needed
  for EU nationals who live abroad
• Cultural and linguistic barriers are now less
  important for these groups
• Better prepared and better travelled generations
• Mutual recognition of qualifications
• But also process of globalization

17
Migration of the highly qualified (III)

• Process of globalization
• Restructuring of large companies (international
  MAs)
• Radical change in the profile of the European
  migrant
• In contrast to the low-skilled worker from
  Southern Europe
• We now have highly qualified young professionals
• This migration is however tiny in numbers (5.5
  million EU nationals living outside their
  country, in comparison with 12 million in the
  early 1970s)

18
Migration of the low-skilled and clandestines (I)

• Migration at the lower end of the scale has been
  taken over by people from outside the EU
• Immigrants escaping poverty to the East and South
  of the EU and hoping to find Eldorado Europe
• In comparison, the migration of the European low
  skilled has been negligible
• Main destination is low-value added service jobs
• Pay in these sectors is often so low that
  European workers cannot or do not compete for
  these jobs with immigrants from outside the EU

19
Migration of the low-skilled and clandestines (II)

• Migration is becoming a truly global phenomenon
• Not only is western Europe receiving more
  immigrants from outside the EU than in the 1980s
• But the regions of origin of the migrants are
  increasingly diversified
• Several waves
• Fall of the Berlin Wall Eastern Europeans
• First wave Poles, Czechs, and Hungarians into
  Germany and other European destinations
• Followed by former-Yugoslavs, Albanians,
  Romanians, Bulgarians, Ukranians, and Russians

20
Migration of the low-skilled and clandestines
(III)

• Several waves (II)
• South/North flows increasing since 1995
• Northern and Sub-Saharan Africans
• Latin Americans
• Central and South East Asians
• Chinese
• Situation similar to that of the US
• Although European borders are more difficult to
  police
• Most migration is likely to be illegal
• Overstaying visas
• Entering the EU through its Eastern Border
• Making perilous Mediterranean sea crossings
• Illegal immigration increasingly in the hands of
  gangs and crime syndicates

21
Migration of the low-skilled and clandestines (IV)

• Sectors benefited by migration
• Low-value added services cleaners, waiters,
  hotel, and chamber maids
• Construction
• Labour-intensive agriculture
• The frequent use of clandestines make them easy
  prey for exploitation
• Informal sector
• From working as street sellers
• to criminal activities.

22
Refugees and asylum seekers (I)

• Boom of refugees and asylum seekers since the end
  of the 1980s
• As a result of increasing conflict and of
  political persecution elsewhere in the world
• But also, some claim, as a result of the
  increasing differences in wealth
• Countries of destination
• Germany at first (more than 100,000 asylum
  applications per year at the beginning of the
  1990s)
• The UK since (more than 100,000 applications in
  the year 2000)
• Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands with the
  highest relative weight

23
Refugees and asylum seekers (II)

• The inclusion of restrictive legislation across
  Europe have contributed to stem the flow
• Extension (and co-ordination) of visa requirement
  to a large number of countries (Schengen)
• Restriction of asylum rights to national of
  countries which have not signed the United
  Nations Conventions on Refugees and on Human
  Rights
• Co-ordination of asylum applications across
  Europe

24
Asylum applications in selected EU countries
25
The European response to migration (I)

• Which has been the reaction of the EU to the
  renewal of migration across Europe?
• Two positions
• Free mobility of labour for EU nationals
• Increasingly restrictive and co-ordinated
  policies for non-EU citizens
• Free mobility of labour for EU nationals
• Abolition of red-tape
• Equivalence of qualifications
• Social security and welfare recognition
• Removal of physical border controls
• Right of vote to non-nationals in local and
  European elections

26
The European response to migration (II)

• Restrictive policies for non-EU citizens
• Implementation of harsher national legislative
  frameworks both on immigration and asylum
• Greater co-ordination of European policies
• Several stages
• Ad hoc groups Trevi, Ad Hoc Group on
  Immigration, the Police Working Group on
  Terrorism
• Schengen Group
• Treaty of the European Union Introduction of the
  Third Pillar on Justice and Home Affairs
• Treaty of Amsterdam partial Europeanization of
  the Third Pillar

27
The European response to migration (III)

• Features of a co-ordinated migration policy
• Asylum seekers are entitled to have their cases
  reviewed only by one country
• Creation of EURODAC
• Homogenization of the EU external borders
• Tougher controls
• Common visa policy
• Creation of databases containing information on
  immigrants
• Police co-ordination (Europol)
• The emergence of a Fortress Europe

28
Migration and xenophobia in the EU (I)

• Why this tightening of European laws towards
  migration?
• Some claim is the result of increasing demands by
  the population
• Increasing xenophobia and racist attitudes
• Negative perception of migration by the
  population in surveys and opinion polls
• Immigrants as criminals
• Immigrants responsible for unemployment
• Immigrants as welfare claimants
• Immigrants as a threat to national culture
• Emergence of xenophobic and racist parties
  (France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Italy)
• Increase in the acts of violence against
  immigrants (attacks on refugee hostels in
  Germany, razzias virtually everywhere else)

29
Attitudes towards foreigners in the EU
30
Migration and xenophobia in the EU (II)

• Emergence of xenophobic and racist parties
• Front National in France
• Freedom party in Austria
• Vlaams Blok in Belgium
• Neo-nazi groups in Germany
• To a lesser extent, the Northern League in Italy
• Increase in the acts of violence against
  immigrants or their descendants
• Attacks on refugee hostels in Germany (and what
  has been considered a lenient attitude by the
  Courts on those crimes until recently
• Racial riots in Northern England
• Razzias against immigrants virtually everywhere
  else (eg. El Ejido in Spain)

31
Migration and xenophobia in the EU (III)

• But it my be also spurred by the securitization
  of migration
• Negative portrayal of immigrants in European
  legislation.
• Immigration as a security issue
• Immigration as a cost for European societies
• Immigration as something to be restricted
• Xenophobic discourses by fundamentally right-wing
  (but not only right-wing) politicians
• General portrayal of immigration as a burden,
  rather than as an asset

32
Conclusion

• Renewal of mass migration in and towards the EU
  since the 1990s
• Qualified migration within EU
• Unskilled migration from outside the EU towards
  it.
• Effects of the new migration wave
• Western Europe becoming more diverse and
  cosmopolitan
• But also generating rejection
• Negative attitude towards migrants and their
  descendants in most EU countries
• Restrictive migration and asylum laws across the
  EU
• Migration being driven underground