20 ECONOMIC MIGRATION
(27145)
5052/06
COM(05) 669
+ ADD 1
| Commission Communication: Policy Plan on Legal Migration
Commission staff working document: Impact Assessment
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| Legal base | —
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| Document originated | 21 December 2005
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| Deposited in Parliament |
10 January 2006 |
| Department | Home Office
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| Basis of consideration |
EM of 24 January 2006 |
| Previous Committee Report |
None; but see HC 38-xii (2004-05), para 2 (23 March 2005)
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| To be discussed in Council
| No date set |
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
20.1 Since 1999 the European Community has adopted four Directives
and two Recommendations on the conditions of entry and residence
of third-country nationals.[37]
20.2 In 2001 the Commission proposed a Directive
on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals
for the purpose of paid employment or self-employment. The proposal
failed to obtain the Council's support and was not pursued.
20.3 Community legislation on visas, asylum and immigration
adopted under Title IV of the EC Treaty does not apply to the
UK unless the Government expressly opts into it.
20.4 In November 2004 the European Council approved
a five-year programme on freedom, security and justice (the Hague
Programme). Among other things, the Programme invited the Commission:
"to present a policy plan on legal migration
including admission procedures capable of responding promptly
to fluctuating demands for migrant labour."[38]
The Hague Programme also says:
"While recognising the progress that has
already been made in respect of the fair treatment of legally
resident third-country nationals in the EU, the European Council
calls for the creation of equal opportunities to participate fully
in society. Obstacles to integration need to be actively eliminated."[39]
20.5 In January 2005, the Commission issued a Green
Paper on managing economic migration. The Green Paper:
- suggested reasons why the Community should examine
the options for an EC legal immigration policy;
- argued that such a policy would need to be put
into place progressively;
- described three main options for EC legislation
(a "horizontal approach", covering all third-country
nationals who wish to be admitted to a Member State for employment;
a "sectoral approach", dealing with specific types of
economic migrants, such as seasonal workers; or a "common
fast-track procedure", covering the admission of economic
migrants to fill a specific gap in the labour market);
- posed specific questions about, for example,
the mobility of economic migrants within the European Community
after their admission to a Member State; whether work and residence
permits should be combined; and the employment rights of third-country
nationals working temporarily in a Member State; and
- emphasised the importance of cooperating with
third-countries on matters such as legal migration and the return
of temporary migrants at the end of their contracts; and posed
questions about whether third-countries should receive compensation
or other assistance in recognition of their investment in, and
temporary loss of, their nationals who migrate to the EC for employment.
20.6 In the view of the previous Committee, the key
question was whether it is necessary or desirable for the EC to
have a policy on economic migration and common rules for the admission
of migrant workers from third-countries. Our predecessors doubted
that the Green Paper made a sufficient case for such an initiative
and recommended the document for debate in European Standing Committee.[40]
The debate took place on 12 December 2005.
The document
20.7 The Communication contains the Policy Plan on
legal migration requested in the Hague programme. It takes account
of the responses to the Commission's Green Paper and outlines
the Commission's proposals for:
- legislation on labour migration;
- the exchange and dissemination of relevant information;
- the integration of economic migrants; and
- cooperation with countries of origin.
Annex I of the Communication sets out a "road
map" of the action the Commission proposes and the timetable
for it. Annex II contains a bibliography. And Annex III reproduces
the text of Articles in existing Directives relevant to third-country
nationals' right to work.
20.8 ADD 1 includes a summary of the responses to
the Green Paper and an assessment of the impact of four options:
- no change — that is, the conditions for
the admission and residence of economic migrants would continue
to be left entirely to the discretion of Member States;
- new legislation on the conditions of admission
and residence for key types of economic migrant;
- the Commission's preferred option; and
- comprehensive new legislation — similar
to the proposals which failed to receive the Council's support
in 2001 — on the conditions of entry, residence and movement
within the EU of all economic migrants.
The Commission's proposals for legislation
20.9 The Commission proposes a general Framework
Directive and four specific Directives. It says that this package
is intended to be flexible enough to recognise the differing requirements
of the Member States for migrant workers while providing for the
fair treatment of economic migrants.
20.10 The main purpose of the General Framework
Directive would be to establish common rights for all third-country
nationals in legal employment who have been admitted to a Member
State but who are not yet entitled to a permanent residence permit.
20.11 The Commission says that its proposal for a
Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of highly
skilled workers recognises that most Member States want to
attract highly qualified people. The Directive would establish
a common procedure for the rapid selection and admission of such
migrants. One possibility might be to introduce a "green
card" which could be issued in one Member State but be valid
throughout the EU.
20.12 The Commission also proposes a Directive
on the conditions of entry and residence of seasonal workers.
This would enable third-country nationals to work for a specified
number of months each year for four or five years. The aim would
be not only to authorise Member States to obtain the seasonal
workers they need but also to give a particularly vulnerable group
of migrants a secure legal status and the prospect of regular
work.
20.13 The third specific Directive would regulate
the entry, temporary stay and residence of "Intra-Corporate
Transferees" (that is, third-country nationals moving
within their companies to receive on-the-job training in the EU).
20.14 The fourth of the specific Directives would
be on the conditions for the entry and residence of remunerated
trainees. The Commission says that allowing third-country
nationals to acquire skills through a training period in the EC
can encourage "brain circulation" to the advantage of
both the sending and receiving countries.
The Government's view on the Commission's proposals
for legislation
20.15 The Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship
and Nationality at the Home Office (Mr Tony McNulty) tells us
that the Government will await the details of the proposed Directives
but it remains to be convinced that there is a need for a Framework
Directive containing common rights for all third-country nationals
in legal employment. Such rights are a matter for Member States
to decide.
20.16 As to the proposals for specific Directives,
the Minister says that the Government:
- has already pioneered a route for highly-skilled
people from third-countries to seek work in the UK;
- has long had ways for intra-corporate transferees
to receive training and work experience in the UK; and
- as to seasonal workers, the Government's five-year
strategy on immigration and asylum assumes that, if vacancies
for workers with low skills are not to be filled by UK nationals,
they will be filled by workers from elsewhere in the EU and, in
particular, from the new Member States. The Government is currently
phasing out existing migration schemes for low-skilled workers
from outside the European Economic Area.
20.17 The Minister adds that the UK would not be
obliged to take part in the proposed new legislation and would
opt into it only if it would be in the national interest to do
so.
The Commission's proposals for the exchange and
dissemination of information
20.18 The Commission says that the respondents to
the Green Paper stressed the added value of EU action to improve
access to information about migration and share best practice.
To this end, the Commission:
- will set up an "EU Immigration Portal"
by the end of 2007 to provide information about, for example,
EU policies and legislation, research results and links to other
websites;
- will organise information campaigns and commission
studies;
- will support discussion of issues relevant to
economic migrants in the 2006 European Year of Workers' Mobility
and the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All;
- believes that the revision of the guidelines
for the European Employment Service for 2007-13 will provide an
opportunity to improve the dissemination of information on, for
example, vacant jobs and working and living conditions; and
- refers to the opportunities to improve the content
and availability of information about migration following the
current consultations on the future of the European Migration
Network.
The Government's view on the proposals about information
20.19 The Minister tells us that the Government agrees
that exchanging information about aspects of immigration is, in
principle, of benefit to all Member States and could, for example,
be useful for benchmarking. But the Government will emphasise
the need to avoid duplication of effort and excessive administrative
burdens.
The Commission's proposals on integration
20.20 The Commission emphasises the importance of
Member States developing integration programmes, including such
things as information packs and programmes to help migrants learn
about the language, culture and history of the host society. The
Commission also refers to:
- the action proposed in its Communication on A
common agenda for integration on which we reported in October
2005;[41]
- its proposal for the creation of a European Fund
for the integration of third-country nationals, on which we reported
in November 2005;[42]
and
- its proposals for the European Social Fund and
the European Regional Development Fund for 2007-13. The former
includes provision to increase immigrants' participation in employment
and strengthen their social integration in host communities. The
Development Fund would also support aspects of integration. Our
predecessors reported on the proposals in October 2004.[43]
The Government's view on the proposals on integration
20.21 The Government welcomes the emphasis the Commission
places on effective integration and thinks that the Commission's
suggestions are appropriate and would add value.
The Commission's proposals on cooperation with
countries of origin
20.22 The Commission says that the responses to the
Green Paper indicated the need to improve collaboration with third-countries
of origin and for initiatives which would benefit Member States
and economic migrants and the countries they come from. One possibility
would be to monitor the migration of skilled workers to the EU
so as to identify sectors and countries from which there is a
significant brain drain; and seek solutions in the light of what
was learned from the monitoring.
20.23 Other possibilities include studies on long-term
multi-entry visas; on giving former migrants to the EU priority
for further temporary employment in the former host country; or
on providing vocational training and language classes in the country
of origin so as to help migrants integrate and obtain legal employment
when they get to a Member State.
The Government's view on the proposals for cooperation
with countries of origin
20.24 The Minister tells us that:
"The UK Government welcomes the emphasis
on the need to take account of the impact of migration on sending
countries. Measures proposed in the Communication seek to harness
the positive links and synergies that exist between migration
and development … The UK supports such measures, which act
to ensure that migration is in the interests of source and destination
alike. It is important to ensure that developing countries do
not lose their most skilled individuals, trapping them further
in a cycle of poverty and doing nothing to address root causes.
At the same time, it is important [that] migration meets labour
market needs in destination countries. Any measures in which the
UK participated would, however, have to be in line with UK policy."
Conclusion
20.25 We, too, remain to be persuaded that it
is desirable or necessary to establish an EC policy on economic
migration. We shall, therefore, subject the Commission's proposals
for legislation on economic migrants to particularly searching
scrutiny when they are deposited in Parliament. But we see no
benefit in keeping the document under scrutiny meanwhile and so
we have decided to clear it.
37 Council Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family
reunification; Council Directive 2003/109/EC on the status of
third-country nationals who are long-term residents; Council Directive2004/114/EC
on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for
the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unremunerated training
or voluntary service; Council Directive 2005/71/EC on a specific
procedure for admitting third-country nationals for purposes of
scientific research; Recommendation 2005/71/EC of the Council
and the European Parliament on the issue by the Member States
of uniform short-term visas for researchers from third countries
travelling within the Community for the purpose of carrying out
scientific research; and Council Recommendation 2005/762/EC on
the admission of third-country nationals to carry out scientific
research in the European Community. Back
38
European Council 4/5 November 2004, Presidency Conclusions, Annex
I, paragraph 1.4. Back
39
Ibid, paragraph 1.5. Back
40
See headnote. Back
41
See (26831) 12120/05: HC 34-v (2005-06), para 45 (12 October 2005). Back
42
See (26547) 8690/05: HC 34-viii (2005-06), para 7 (2 November
2005). Back
43
See (25853) 11636/04 and (25856) 11688/04: HC 42-xxxii (2003-04),
para 10 (13 October 2004). Back
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