APPENDIX 3: CALL FOR EVIDENCE
The House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee,
chaired by Lord Hannay of Chiswick, is launching an inquiry into
the European Commission's Communication on a Global Approach to
Migration and Mobility and its implications for the UK. We invite
you to contribute evidence to this inquiry. Written evidence is
sought by 31 May 2012.
The Global Approach to Migration and Mobility is
the external dimension of the European Union's migration policy.
It is based on partnership with third countries and designed to
address in a coherent way the management of legal migration, the
prevention or reduction of illegal migration and the relationship
between migration and development. The European Commission adopted
its most recent Communication on the Global Approach in November
2011 (COM (2011)743, document 17254/11). It can be found at the
following address:
http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/news/intro/docs/1_EN_ACT_part1_v9.pdf
The Global Approach began as a UK initiative in 2005.
Whilst remaining broadly positive about it in principle, the Government
are sceptical about some elements of the Global Approach and unable
to participate in others having chosen not to opt in to many of
the legislative measures underpinning it. The purpose of this
inquiry is to assess the likely overall effectiveness of the Global
Approach to Migration and Mobility, present recommendations on
how the external dimension of the European Union's migration policy
can function better and evaluate the impact (both domestically
and on a European scale) of the UK's decision not to participate
in many EU legislative measures on migration. We are particularly
interested in the views of non-governmental organisations working
in this field.
Particular questions raised to which we invite
you to respond are as follows (there is no need for individual
submissions to deal with all of the issues)
General questions on the Global Approach to Migration
and Mobility
(1) What is your experience so far of the Global
Approach to Migration and Mobility? In your view, has it been
an effective initiative for facilitating the European Union's
aims on the external dimension of migration policy?
(2) Which elements of the Global Approach do
you believe are most and least effective? What changes should
be made? How best can the EU manage to deal with the very strong
pressure from third countries in particular on the Southern Member
States?
(3) What are your views on the main thematic
recommendations identified by the Commission?
(These are:
(a) promoting better governance of migration
(for example, exchanging good practice between Public Employment
Services in Member States and partner countries; full implementation
and possible improvement of existing measures such as the Directives
on students and researchers and the Visa Code; and setting up
Migration 2 and Mobility Resource Centres in partner countries
to facilitate pre-departure preparation of migrants);
(b) preventing and reducing illegal immigration
and human trafficking (for example, cooperation on document security,
with the possibility of visa facilitation for frequent travellers;
exchanges of information between EU Immigration Liaison Officers
and partner country counterparts; and more cooperation through
FRONTEX;
(c) supporting the implementation of international
protection standards for asylum seekers and refugees in third
countries (for example, support from the European Asylum Support
Office (EASO) for building asylum capacity in non-EU countries;
and increased resettlement in the EU through the "Joint EU
Resettlement Programme");
(4) What in your view is the effect of demographic
trends in the EU on migration issues?
(5) How are the different considerations arising
from the EU's internal policies and its relationships with third
countries to be reconciled?
Specific questions on labour migration and the
"brain drain"
(6) A number of measures have been proposed and/or
introduced to anticipate and fill EU labour market shortages from
outside the EU and provide information to non-EU nationals looking
to work in one of the Member States. These include the EU Immigration
Portal, the European Vacancy Monitor and the EU Skills Panorama.
What is your view on these European measures and others of a similar
nature? Can they accurately and reliably predict EU labour market
shortages? Is enough information provided to potential migrants
to ensure they can safely take up work in a Member State?
(7) Is there a case for continuing to facilitate
migration into the EU? What impact is this likely to have on the
labour markets and economies of the UK and other individual Member
States? Is sufficient attention being paid to training and using
existing resources in the EU labour market?
(8) The Employment Guidelines call on Member
States to pay due attention to integration of migrants in EU labour
markets. In your view, is enough attention being paid to this
in the EU and in the UK and is sufficient consideration being
given to issues of social cohesion?
(9) The EU rules on social security coordination
remove disadvantages and protect acquired social security rights
for EU citizens and legally resident non-EU nationals moving within
the EU. Should these rules be extended outside the EU for third
country nationals returning to their country of origin? Are enough
safeguards in place to ensure that the current social security
framework is not open to manipulation when extended outside the
EU?
(10) In your view, to what extent is the "brain
drain" from third countries into the EU an issue in the context
of migration and mobility into the EU? Are the measures currently
being proposed and/or implemented at a European level enough to
tackle this issue? What more should be done to prevent this phenomenon?
Specific questions on the UK's role in the Global
Approach on Migration and Mobility
(11) What impact does the fact that the UK has
not opted into many external migration measures have both on a
national and European level?
(12) Can the UK continue to constructively and
effectively contribute to and cooperate with the EU's external
migration policy when it has not opted into many of the legislative
measures underpinning the policy (e.g. the Blue Card Directive,
the Employer Sanctions Directive, the Returns Directive, the Intra-Corporate
Transfers Directive and the Seasonal Workers Directive).
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