What can the EU do to better manage migration?

Europe’s citizens expect the EU to find solutions to migration policy, but there is no simple solution to a complex problem.

Croatian elderly person, vox pop in the main town square in Rijeka, Interview by Dražen Zima (in Croatian)

“The problem of illegal migrants should be solved. I live on the migration route and I often see them coming to people’s doors. A little stronger supervision is needed here, so that they do not pass through ‘holes’ in the border.”

24-year-old student in political sciences, Interview by Csilla Ádám (in Hungarian)

“The biggest challenge for the EU is definitely the issue of migration; stopping illegal migration.”

Maria, Clerk, vox pop in the streets of Bratislava by Semantv (in Slovakian)

“Why don’t they protect the Schengen borders so that migrants don’t enter the European Union illegally?”

Marco, 25-year-old Italian employee, vox pop in the streets of Milan by Giulia Cannizzaro, Radio 24 (in Italian)

“The European Union can certainly do a lot more to deal with the problem of migratory flows. The management at EU level has so far been lacklustre and insufficient and that is one thing that the European Union can do more of to help Italy solve this problem.“

Leaving one’s homeland to settle in another in order to make a better life is in our DNA as humans… If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be here, in Europe, talking about it.

For people in many parts of the world, the European continent acts as a pole of attraction, offering better living conditions, social and health services, education and economic prospects for individuals and families. As a result, many people have flocked here since the 1980s in search of a better life.

Some of these people are in particular need of protection, fleeing conflict or persecution in their countries of origin to seek refuge (or asylum) in an EU member state. And some of these asylum seekers hope one day to obtain the right to remain in their host country.

But not all EU citizens are happy to see this influx of people crossing the bloc’s borders. Some fear competing with migrants for jobs and housing, or worry that the newcomers will drive down wages and put pressure on public services. Others are afraid of a shift in values and culture, believing that large-scale immigration could undermine national identity or social cohesion. There are also concerns about organised crime and threats to national security – concerns that have only been intensified by recent terror attacks on European soil supported by Islamic State or Jihadi groups.

So, what can the EU do to find the delicate balance between security and solidarity?

A deep divide

The EU’s immigration policy dates back to 1995 with the advent of Schengen, the area of free movement within the European Union, leading to stronger external border controls. In 1997, member states gave the EU formal powers in terms of migration policy – namely the right to define migrants’ conditions of entry and residence, develop integration measures and minimise illegal immigration.

But in 2015 and in 2016, the EU was hit by a migration crisis: 1.2 million refugees, many of whom were fleeing the war in Syria or violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. There was widespread panic, with the sudden influx showing the limits of the bloc’s migration policy.

Border countries such as Greece and Italy faced a massive humanitarian crisis, and Brussels’ attempts to get other member states to step in and help were pretty unsuccessful.

André Costa Jorge, coordinator of the Refugee Support Platform in Portugal, Interview by Hugo Monteiro, Radio Renascença (in Portuguese)

“What we have seen, unfortunately, is that the border countries, which are often left to their own devices by the rest of the bloc, will have to manage the migratory pressure. Italy’s perspective is that it will double the number of detention centres in the future and that it will contract and reach an agreement with Albania to build these centres. Greece, on the other hand, is pushing back irregular migrants and building sea barriers to prevent people from reaching its territory.”

So, why did Europe fail here?

Firstly, perceptions of migration – both legal and illegal – are not the same across European countries. There are many factors at play here: geographical location, history, economy, make-up of society, and so on.

The dividing line lies, broadly, between Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The latter, with its more multicultural societies and stronger economies, tends to be more open and inclusive towards legal migrants, as evidenced by the higher levels of naturalisation and residence permits allocated in countries like Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and France. Beyond the fact that these countries particularly value and promote human rights, they also tend to have larger economies and more robust social protection systems, allowing them to better manage the impact of immigration. Migrant labour is also welcomed in certain of their industries due to their changing demographics – specifically an ageing population.

Meanwhile, Central and Eastern European countries generally take a more cautious approach, with a discourse around legal migration often focusing on security, national identity and sovereignty. There are historical reasons for this, such as the fact that they often have a past marked by political instability or invasion. They may also be more reluctant to accept migrants as they have smaller economies and lower GDP per capita, leading to concerns about competing for jobs and social welfare.

Inta Mieriņa, Associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia, Interview by Uldis Ķezberis, Latvijas Radio (in Latvian)

“We did a very in-depth study on the reasons for negative attitudes towards immigrants in different European countries and one of the main conclusions was that these negative attitudes are caused by so-called ‘resource stress’. What this means is that people are anxious and nervous because they do not feel secure about their income, their future and so on. An interesting finding was that in the Nordic countries, where migrants have greater access to various benefits, people are actually less afraid of migrants.”

In addition, while Western European countries tend to be more culturally diverse due to their colonial past, Central and Eastern European societies are more homogeneous.

Inta Mieriņa, Associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia, Interview by Uldis Ķezberis, Latvijas Radio (in Latvian)

“The problem of Latvia and other Eastern and Central European countries is that we are generally not very trusting and, of course, this comes across even more towards people who are ‘different’. We must also bear in mind that Eastern Europe has had particularly little contact with diversity, so there is concern and fear [of migrants].”

Citizens’ fears are often fuelled where migrants fail to integrate, remaining on the margins of society and struggling to learn the language, find work and adapt to the host culture.

Professor Drago Župarić Iljić, Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, Interview by Dražen Sima (in Croatian)

“If you don’t make a real effort, you expose yourself to the risk and danger that people remain on the sidelines, become social cases, indulge in crime, maybe some even make an ideological shift – towards terrorism and the like. Integration, in which you bring someone to have equal opportunities, must be a prerequisite. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, because people come from different cultural circles, with differing prior knowledge of languages, maybe some of them aren’t quite literate. They come to a new cultural milieu where they need to be adapted and taught not only the language but also some of the customs and values of our society.”

When it comes to this contentious topic, the differing expectations of citizens and governments across the bloc are of course difficult to reconcile.

And the way in which some political parties choose to use this complex debate to serve their own political ends contributes to a common public perception of migration as a source of fear or concern.

Georgi Spassov, A social activist who works with migrants, Interview by Doroteya Nikolova, BNR (in Bulgarian)

“There is a very racist attitude in society and this is something that, for me, is the result of a long-standing policy of certain political groups to seed hatred, racism, prejudice and fear in people: ‘Look, refugees will steal our jobs and drain our social benefits too. They will work, they will not work, they will rape us, they will rob us…’ and so on and so forth… It’s a bunch of lies that is far-removed from reality and such talk should be considered criminal because it stirs up baseless hatred towards a certain group of people. When they have heard this kind of talk for years, for decades, a layering of this narrative, then it’s understandable that people are scared, racist and anxious.”

With such strong feelings on both sides of the debate, it is perhaps unsurprising that sustainable solutions have been hard to come by.

A new pact

Earlier in April, the EU institutions approved a new migration and asylum pact, which aims to fix a number of issues that arose during the migrant crisis eight years ago. When it is implemented, in two years’ time, it will impose a flexible but mandatory solidarity mechanism between member states, through relocation programmes or financial assistance, as well as a specific solidarity mechanism in the event of mass arrivals. It will harmonise asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders, with new screening procedures to speed up the processing of asylum applications for – and removal of – people who are unlikely to be granted asylum.

The EU has also strengthened Frontex, its joint border and coast guard service, which helps to manage the bloc’s external borders and fight cross-border crime.

So, will the pact mark a turning point? According to some observers, there are positive innovations.

Nina Gregori, Executive director of the European Asylum Support Office, Interview by Matej Hrastar, RTV Slovenija (in Slovenian)

“The fact is that the EU asylum system only began to be built in 1999, so is relatively new. It is also the first and only multinational system in the world, so is completely unprecedented in this context. Building such a complex system and then implementing it in practice – in 27 member states – is a very demanding task. I honestly believe that every change in legislation in this area brings positive innovations. The latest pact brings the adoption of regulations, which means that member states must ensure they implement these regulations directly as of 2026. This is a new step that, I believe, will allow for better procedures, improved safeguarding of the rights of those applying for international protection and improvements in terms of not only the quality, but also the speed of these procedures, which is a key element of this new pact.”

The pact has a stronger stance on security in the fight against illegal migration, which is a priority for many.

Pijus Petrošius, International Organisation for Migration’s Vilnius office, Interview by Jonė Sąlygaitė, Žinių radijas (in Lithuanian)

“The EU does not view migration as a major issue of concern. No country has spoken out against legal, regular migration. This silence stems from the EU facing a labour shortage, hence a need to attract skilled professionals from other countries. Neither does the sentiment spread from those countries that are the biggest advocates of border control in the EU, such as Geert Wilders’ party [in the Netherlands]. The fundamental issue at stake is the management of illegal migration flows. Since 2015, the Union has been externalising migration governance to transit countries. In recent months, we have seen this in bilateral agreements with Mauritania, Egypt, and last year with Tunisia. By developing bilateral partnerships, efforts are being made to strengthen migration governance systems in transit countries, thus managing migrant flows.”

But in Italy, a border country whose calls for solidarity have been largely ignored, there is scepticism that the new pact will improve this situation.

Riccardo Noury, Spokesperson Amnesty International Italy, Interview by Giulia Cannizzaro, Radio 24 (in Italian)

“States historically inclined to accept relocations will now be able to pay 20,000 euros for each person they do not relocate.”

In fact, the pact prioritises border security over the wellbeing of vulnerable people.

Riccardo Noury, Spokesperson Amnesty International Italy, Interview by Giulia Cannizzaro, Radio 24 (in Italian)

“In recent years, the words welcome, inclusion, solidarity, assistance have been largely ignored in the name of the word ‘security’. This is a pact that promotes border security to the detriment of the safety of people fleeing persecution and war, who do not receive an adequate response from the European Union.”

Meanwhile, some member states have not even accepted the new pact: Hungary and Poland actively rejected it, while four other countries – Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia – abstained. They do not all share the same reservations, but the fact that they all have significant concerns will certainly make implementation difficult.

Párducz Árpád, research assistant and analyst at the Hungarian-government-funded Migration Research Institute believes that Hungary, which will take over the rotating Council presidency in July, will use this as an opportunity to shift the debate in its favour.

Párducz Árpád, Assistant research fellow, Migration Research Institute, Interview by Gábor Vörös (in Hungarian)

“Hungary has already begun preparing to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union. In this context, György Bakondi, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser on internal security, has emphasised that the Hungarian presidency, and therefore the Hungarian government, will keep working to transfer the basic principles of Hungarian migration policy, namely border protection and the need to provide assistance, to Brussels. Or, as far as possible, to incorporate them into the various EU laws. I personally look forward to seeing how this is done.”

An uncertain future

It is doubtful that we will see, over the coming years, any great reduction in people’s desire to migrate to the EU – given the conflicts in the wider region and the poverty on the African continent. There are also suggestions that climate change will contribute to even more of an upsurge in arrivals.

Still, climate change on its own is unlikely to have this effect.

Cláudia Santos, Researcher at the Lisbon Institute of Social Sciences, Interview by Hugo Monteiro, Radio Renascença (in Portuguese)

“What we know today is that the effects of climate change are already being felt in many countries. But this mainly leads to internal displacement within a country or to regional displacement, to neighbouring countries, and not necessarily to Europe. The decision to migrate to Europe is not usually just an individual decision. It’s often a family decision and various factors feed into it – not just climate change. What am I trying to say? Well, it’s very difficult to attribute causality, make a direct link, between climate change and migration. There are always a number of factors that cause populations to end up moving.”

Just as the shifting situation in other regions has an impact on European immigration, the situation within individual EU member states also continues to evolve. And sooner or later, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe may well face a similar dilemma to their western neighbours:  steady economic growth, but an ageing population.

Take Poland, whose growing economy is starting to attract migrant workers. For now, Warsaw is maintaining a relatively conservative approach to immigration, with few legal channels available for economic migrants from third countries – but perhaps will it eventually have to change.

Dr Konrad Czernichowski, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Interview by Ewa Mierzejewska, Polskie radio (in Polish)

“It is not that we should only be looking for skilled people; low-skilled people are also needed. This is because in a country like Poland, the population is declining. Now people from the baby-boomer generation are retiring and there are not enough young people entering the labour market to take their place, so we will also need migrants. We cannot live in a fantasy world. We will need people from abroad to fill the gaps in the labour market here.”

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• Author : Hermine Donceel, Euranet Plus News Agency

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