EUROPEAN & NATIONAL

RULES ON MIGRATION:

DO THEY FACTOR DEMOGRAPHY?

Philippe DE BRUYCKER

Migration Policy Centre (MPC)

RSCAS / EUI

MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

DEMOGRAPHY

• Ongoing research

• done by a lawyer about demography before an economist will do a similar exercise (TL)

• A lot on migration policy & demography (abstract)

• but much less on how policy takes demography into consideration in concrete cases (concrete)

• Almost no literature regarding migration law and demography (for instance quotas)

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MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

DEMOGRAPHY

• Usual presentation: migration law & policy integrate and reflect demographic as well as economic, humanitarian, political, etcobjectives

• But is demography concretely an object of public policy?

– Australia: minister for population (including migration) since 2010

– What about other States?

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MIGRATION LAW/POLICY &

DEMOGRAPHY

• Demography as component of immigration policy?

– Family migration: snowball demographic effect by

DV but no demographic objective (selection?)

– Labor migration: no (economic situation) but

possible in case of economic growth

– Asylum: no (no selection of types and flows except

resettlement; but currently Germany?)

+ Student migration: no (no settlement but current

evolution of policies allowing privileged access of

graduates to labour market)

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MIGRATION LAW/POLICY &

DEMOGRAPHY

• Demography as science of population

regarding its size (growth) and structure (per

age, …);

1. SIZE OF POPULATION

2. STRUCTURE OF POPULATION

(In reality both can be mixed)

3. WHAT ABOUT THE EU LEVEL?

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1. MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

SIZE OF POPULATION

• Apparently immediate effect as immigration

adds people to population

• but replacement migration is controversial

• “Quotas” as best tool for such policy?

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1. MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

SIZE OF POPULATION

• Canada:

– Immigration as population policy

– Immigration acts of 1967 (points system) and

1976 (annual planning)

– Migration = 1% of population as target (not quota)

since nineties (Alan GREEN)

– Points system independent of labor market

(economic / demographic efficiency?)

– Shared policy with provinces

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1. MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

SIZE OF POPULATION

• USA: immigration is not population policy

• Very Complicate and detailed numerical ceilings – per categories of migrants + lottery

– per third country

• Fixed by Congress statutes and not the executive branch

• So not revised regularly

• Federal policy less relevant for local variations of demography (differences in spatial distribution of migrants)

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1. MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

SIZE OF POPULATION

• Switzerland: referendums!

– Referendum “stop to overpopulation: yes to preservation of natural resources” rejected

– Referendum “against mass migration” adopted

• Austria: quotas and points system (RWR card) (TL)

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2. MIGRATION LAW / POLICY &

STRUCTURE OF POPULATION

• Structure / composition of policy:

– Age: efficiency? Discrimination under EU law?

– Ethnic origin: USA, Canada, Australia

• Was linked to population growth

• Language: Quebec selection policy

– Skills:

• preference for highly skilled migrants (Germany)

• Points systems without quotas (but points as tool

instead of quotas)

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3. WHAT ABOUT THE EU LEVEL

A. The institutional framework

B. The policy framework

C. The legal framework

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A. THE EUROPEAN

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK• In Council JHA as main actor:

– demography on their agenda?

• More on EPSCO’s agenda:

Council conclusions onReconciliation of work and family life

in the context of demographic change

3099th EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL POLICY, HEALTH and CONSUMER AFFAIRS Council meeting

Luxembourg, 17 June 2011

"THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER

STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

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B. THE EUROPEAN

POLICY FRAMEWORK

• Objectives in article 79, §1 TFEU:

“The Union shall develop a common

immigration policy aimed at ensuring, at all

stages, the efficient management of migration

flows, fair treatment of third-country nationals

residing legally in Member States, and the

prevention of, and enhanced measures to

combat, illegal immigration and trafficking in

human beings”

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B. THE EUROPEAN

POLICY FRAMEWORKTampere Conclusions (1999)

20. The European Council acknowledges:

the need for approximation of national legislations on theconditions for admission and residence of third countrynationals,

based on a shared assessment of the economic anddemographic developments within the Union, as well as thesituation in the countries of origin.

It requests to this end rapid decisions by the Council, on thebasis of proposals by the Commission.

These decisions should take into account not only thereception capacity of each Member State, but also theirhistorical and cultural links with the countries of origin.

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B. THE EUROPEAN

POLICY FRAMEWORK

• A lot of policy documents from different DGs

• 13 May 2015: European Agenda on Migration

– A new policy on legal migration!?

– Proposals on:

• Touring visa (ongoing)

• Students & researchers (recently adopted)

• Proposal on Blue card (March 2016) against DG Home

Affairs

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C. THE EUROPEAN

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• Numbers and composition of migrants are left

to MS (FR as fake directive not reflecting a

policy)

• Competences: EU migration quotas?

– politically impossible (as shown by relocation for

AS)

– but also legally impossible (article 79 TFEU)

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C. THE EUROPEAN

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• Soft law (MOC) like in employment policy

(Migration profiles?)

• Demography and Europe’s weight in the world

(see intro to Forum):

– Failure of attempts to make foreign policy a tool

for a restrictive immigration policies

– “open immigration policies” as tool for more

influent CFSP

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