Romania, which have seen an increasing portion of their own workforce moving westward since their accession to the EU.

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1 Asia EU Consultation Meeting on Labour Migration April 2008, Brussels Venue: Ballroom 2, Renaissance Hotel REPORT SUMMARY In the framework of an EC-funded AENEAS project, Regional Dialogue and Programme on Facilitating Managed and Legal Migration between Asia and the European Union (EU), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has organized a two-day consultation meeting bringing together senior labour migration officials from ten Colombo Process countries and 16 EU member states to exchange experiences and discuss issues of common interest on labour migration from Asia to Europe. The following themes were discussed during the consultation: (i) migration trends from Asia to EU and related migration policy developments both at national and regional levels; (ii) facilitating migration, (iii) highly skilled migration; (iv) skills certification and recognition mechanism; (v) circular migration; (vi) regulatory mechanism to monitor migration; and (vii) ethical recruitment and the role of the private sector in recruitment processes. Asian and European representatives participating in the consultation have all recognized during those two days of discussion that there are mutual benefits to strengthening cooperation on the issue of migration flows from Asia to Europe especially in light of the demographic and economic dynamics that characterize both regions. The cooperation and dialogue are still at nascent stage and much remains to be done in areas such as labour market data collection and sharing, workers protection, remittance management and workers reintegration. Participants have therefore called for continued dialogue at a higher representation (Ministerial), as a means to enhance mutual understanding and identify mutually beneficial action points. CONTEXT Although migration flows from the Asian countries to the European Union (EU) have so far been relatively low compared to other source regions such as Africa and Eastern Europe, the Asia-EU migration trend, in recent years, shows not only a gradual expansion but also diversification both in terms of source of flows and their destination. China has grown to be one of the key emerging source countries of Asian migration to the EU, in addition to the Philippines and the Indian Subcontinent countries. On the EU side, countries like Italy and Spain, in addition to France and the UK, have also become important destinations of Asian migrants entering legally or in an irregular manner into the EU. Interest in exploring labour migration routes and opportunities with Asia is also observed among some new EU countries, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and

2 Romania, which have seen an increasing portion of their own workforce moving westward since their accession to the EU. Given the strong economic and demographic dynamics found in both regions, the migration trend, particularly economic migration, from Asia to EU is expected to increase and will become in the foreseeable future a predominant element in Asia-EU relations. The challenge lies in how to manage migration effectively so that both the destination and origin countries as well as the migrants themselves can benefit from it. It is in this context that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has since 2006 been implementing an initiative that aims at facilitating the development of legal migration from South and Southeast Asia to Europe through capacity building and policy dialogue between Asia and EU countries 1. This initiative was developed upon the recommendations adopted by the Colombo Process 2 which call for: (i) better protection and provision of adequate support services to migrant workers; (ii) optimizing the benefits of organized labour migration; (iii) enhancing institutional capacities of national governments to meet labour migration challenges; and (iv) greater inter-state cooperation between origin and destination countries in protecting migrant workers, facilitating access to labour markets, and preventing irregular migration. As part of the policy dialogue component of the AENEAS programme, IOM organised a two-day consultation meeting bringing together senior labour migration officials from ten Colombo Process countries and sixteen EU member states to exchange experiences on and discuss common issues of interest on labour migration from Asia to Europe. The objectives of the meeting were: 1. Assist participants in better understanding the dynamics of labour mobility between Asia and the EU by outlining a realistic picture of labour migration trends between the two regions. 2. Inform policy makers and other stakeholders on current and future labour market trends, challenges and opportunities in relation to these regions and how these trends influence their migration policies and practices. 3. Identify priority issues of mutual interests to Asia and EU and explore possibilities of moving forward in a common agenda. PROCEEDINGS DAY 1 29 April 2008 Introduction Session In his welcome message, Bernd Hemingway, Regional Representative, IOM Brussels, stressed that this Asia-EU Consultation Meeting was the first forum dedicated exclusively to discuss labour migration issues among EU Member States and Asian government representatives, complementing other ongoing regional dialogues such as ASEM and the EU-ASEAN frameworks as well as dialogues conducted at bilateral level. On his part, Gervais Appave, Senior Migration Policy Adviser, IOM Geneva acting as the overall chair of the Consultation Meeting, highlighted the beneficial use of such consultation as a means to foster mutual understanding between the two regions that have both their distinct specificities in relations to labour migration: while the EU is currently engaged with ambitious experimental policies in the field of labour migration, Asia is characterised by its high level and most dynamic labour migration and its large pool of labour force ready to be deployed to countries in need of labour force, such as the EU. Before giving the floor to the speakers of the first panel, Gervais Appave recalled the three objectives of the meeting, namely: (i) assist participants in better understanding the dynamics of labour mobility between Asia and the EU by outlining a realistic picture of labour migration trends 1 Regional Dialogue and Programme on Facilitating Managed and Legal Migration between Asia and the European Union (EU) funded by EC AENEAS 2004 Programme. 2 The Colombo Process is a Regional Consultative Process on labour migration issues established in 2003 upon the request of a number of Asian labour sending countries. The eleven Colombo Process member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Sri Lanka,) meet at Ministerial and Senior Official level to share experiences and concerns, lessons learned and best practices on overseas worker policies and practices. The Colombo Process member states have carried out consultation meetings with other destination countries such as the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. The forthcoming Asia-EU Consultation will use the Colombo Process as a platform for dialogue to help ensure that necessary post-consultation action points will be closely followed up. Further information on the Colombo Process is available on the following website: 2

3 between the two regions; (ii) inform policy makers and other stakeholders on current and future labour market trends, challenges and opportunities in relation to these regions and how these trends influence their migration policies and practices; and (iii) identify priority issues of mutual interests to Asia and EU and explore possibilities of moving forward in a common agenda. Session 1: Colombo Process and Follow up Actions Moderator: Mr. Gervais Appave, Senior Policy Advisor, IOM Joint Presentation by Mr. Maruli A. Hasoloan, Secretary for Director General for Manpower and Placement, Department for Manpower and Transmigration, Indonesia and Ms. Anne-Marie Buschman-Petit, Special Advisor to the Director General, IOM Through a joint presentation, Mr Maruli Hasoloan and Ms Buschman-Petit gave an overview of the history, rationale, objectives and achievements of the Colombo Process since its inception in As the mobility of contractual workers has become a global phenomenon impacting on the economic, social and cultural transformation of both destination and sending countries, both speakers have highlighted the importance of Regional Consultative Processes (RCPs), such as the Colombo Process, as a means to foster dialogue and cooperation between sending and destination countries on key issues of common interest. Mr Hasoloan recalled one of the recommendations adopted at the third Colombo Process Ministerial Meeting in Bali in 2005 which called for increased cooperation between the Colombo Process countries and key destination regions, including the Gulf region and the European Union, in order to ensure the welfare of overseas workers, to asses labour market needs and to prevent irregular movement. In this regard, Mr. Hasoloan expressed, in his capacity as Chair of the Colombo Process, his gratitude to IOM, as well as to the EC, for having facilitated this year the holding of (i) the Ministerial meeting with the Gulf Countries Council which led to the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, and (ii) the present consultation meeting with the EU Member States. Recognising that much remain to be done in relation to labour migration between the two regions, the following recommendations were put forward as some examples of possible follow-up actions to the Consultation: (i) further strengthen cooperation and dialogue; (ii) exchange information and best practices on the respective labour policy and (iii) identify potential labour markets of EU member states so that origin countries can be better prepared to meet the labour demands. Presentation by Ms. Aiko Kikkawa, Manager of the AENEAS project, IOM Dhaka As a Project Manager of the EC-funded AENEAS project, Ms Kikkawa briefed participants on the objectives, achievements and lessons learned of the project. In terms of the AENEAS project achievements, Ms Kikkawa made reference to the successful establishment of Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) and the roll out of information campaigns in Bangladesh and the Philippines, which aimed at informing potential migrants on legal labour migration opportunities and procedures, as well as on the risks of resorting to irregular migration, particularly with regard to EU destination countries. Ms Kikkawa also made reference to the holding of a series of training workshops in Islamabad and Manila, aimed at enhancing the capacity of government partners and private sector stakeholders to (i) administer overseas employment programme; and (ii) to place workers in the EU and ensure an ethical recruitment process. Further capacity-building activities also included the set up or enhancement of so-called Market Research Units (MRUs) within the government structure of each participating Colombo Process country. Those MRUs are responsible of gathering and sharing information on projected labour requirements in major labour receiving countries in order to meet the demand with matching skills. Lastly, the programme is also exploring possibilities of initiating and facilitating pilot placement schemes of Asian workers in interested EU countries. Attempts to initiate such pilot placement scheme with UK, Germany, Ireland and Spain have not materialised due to various factors: changing migration policies; changing socio-economic context; geographical/cultural constrains; high costs, etc. IOM is now in negotiation with Italian agricultural organisations and tourism association which have expressed interest to recruit workers from Asia on a temporary/circular basis. Discussions are ongoing with all stakeholders (including the concerned ministry) to put a proper framework in place for rolling out such a pilot placement scheme. In terms of lessons learned, Ms Kikkawa made the following observations: (i) labour migration policies and trends of EU countries are rapidly changing; some are private-driven, others are policy-driven, leading to a mismatch between the policy frameworks in place and the realities/needs of the labour market; (ii) New EU accession states are becoming emerging markets for many Asian countries; 3

4 (iii) Asia-EU migration continues to take place through diverse channels, including highly skilled migration schemes, service workers schemes, family reunification or study programmes and irregular entries. Taking into account the above observations, Ms Kikkawa made a number of suggestions as to how future Asia-EU cooperation in the field of labour migration could move forward: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) facilitation of skilled labour migration may require further studies on skill qualification and recognition process; a need for deploying measures that would aim at bringing more transparency to the transactional recruitment process; more proactive sharing of labour market information between the regions; Greater sharing of practical and useful materials among countries regarding predeparture orientations, management tools, statistics and latest policy developments; Result-oriented promotions of labour migration through the organisation of job fairs and marketing/promotional seminars. Discussion India s comment: - Colombo Process website could be more regularly updated and used as a means to communicate and share information with destination countries. - Considerable progress has recently been made towards the conclusion of a joint pilot placement project between India, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this regard, India further added that it ideally wished to see the same level of progress with EU MS. India s observation at the moment is that EU MS are not sufficiently coming forward particularly in relation to the pilot placement activity due to be implemented under the AENEAS programme - potentially rendering the overall achievement of the AENEAS programme only half successful. - India is keen to benefit of further training from the AENEAS programme, particularly targeting its MRU Focal Point. Sri Lanka s comment: - Highlighted importance of bilateral agreements: Sri Lanka signed MoU with Bahrain and Kuwait, and will shortly receive a delegation from Jordan to sign a MoU. Chair s summary of Session I Labour mobility is of great importance in the Asia region and for this reason it is subject to cooperation. Two key concerns remain to be solved, namely: a) the protection of workers and b) the orderly management of labour flows. Dialogue between Asia and EU on labour migration is at nascent stage and much remains to be done in this respect, it can be compared to a huge construction site which requires much more accurate data on which further cooperation can be built. Session 2: Latest developments on Asia-EU Migration Moderator: Mr. Karunakaran Nair Mohandas, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, India As moderator of the session, Mr Mohandas made brief opening remarks: - Migration of people is one of the most important factors affecting globalisation. - There is a great need to arrive at minimum policy harmonisation amongst origin and destination states and to create realistic options to manage migration as a process. - States involvement can give migration the right framework (as a well managed legal process) Presentation by Mr. Ricardo Cordero, Senior Expert, Labour and Facilitated Migration Division, IOM Through his presentation, Mr Cordero provided an overview on labour migration trends and policy developments between Asia and Europe, which served as a useful basis for further discussion throughout the two-day consultations. 4

5 Some highlights on the latest labour migration trends from Asia to Europe: There are approximately 25 million Asian workers migrating intra-regionally or extra regionally to other destination regions (Gulf, EU, etc.). Asia Europe Migration is relatively low compared to other migration route towards the EU; However one can observe a gradual expansion and diversification of countries of origin and destination in recent years, changing the overall picture of migration flows between Asia and Europe (India, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to Italy, Spain, France and UK) The United Kingdom remains the number one EU destination country for Asian labour, particularly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh Spain is receiving an increasing number of care workers from the Philippines. Italy and Denmark are also becoming two key receiving countries of Asian labour: while Italy receives migrants from China, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Philippines, Denmark has been receiving migrants from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. Denmark is currently revising its law to facilitate the in-migration of skilled workers. Why Europe is now looking at Asia? Asia has the largest reserve of highly skilled workers in the world (eg. Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka) and some Asian countries have developed a highly sophisticated structure to select, deploy and prepare migrant workers for jobs abroad. Some observations on European labour markets: The aging populations and labour shortages are two key factors that are impacting on EU s overall economic growth and competitiveness. There are significant differences among the EU MS as to how they admit foreign workers. Some countries admit foreign workers on quota system, while others apply certain admission criteria without any specific cap. Some states admit low skilled, while others favour more highly skilled migration (i.e. UK) New EU MS are experiencing significant labour outflow since their accession into the EU; Although it is observed that in some cases (i.e. Poland), portion of these immigrants eventually come back to their country of origin, some new EU MS are already experiencing an irreversible effect of labour shortage in some low/medium skilled sectors. This has led some of the new EU MS to re-think their migration policy direction, including exploring the possibilities of tapping into the Asian labour force. Some EU MS are increasing their intake of workers from Asia - Italy and Spain (agriculture, hospitality); Czech Republic visa opened for skilled workers in India ; Denmark (IT, medical professionals) Most Recent Migration Related policy developments in Asia and Europe On the Asia side, the Colombo Process has been a crucial platform for promoting policy dialogue among Asian labour sending countries as well as between the Colombo Process countries and key destination regions. As already recalled by Mr Hasoloan in the first session of this meeting, the recommendations adopted at the third Colombo Process Ministerial Meeting that took place in Bali in 2005 were particularly instrumental in terms of encouraging further cooperation with the EU specifically. The regular ASEAN meetings (Labour Ministries) also constitute a solid regional framework through which labour migration issues are extensively discussed among South-East Asian countries given the mostly intra-regional flows of migrant workers in that sub-region of Asia, the ASEAN countries have adopted at the 12 th ASEAN Summit (in Cebu), a Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. On the EU side, commitments to further mainstream migration into its bilateral or multilateral policy dialogue frameworks with Asia are reflected in various key policy strategy documents: - EC Communication COM (2001) 469 Europe and Asia: a Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships : The EU should work to strengthen our dialogue and cooperation with Asia in relation to justice and home affairs issues. Areas such as visa, asylum immigration and other policies related to the free movement of persons are increasingly in our relations with Asia as with other regions. In addition to addressing these issues, we should also strengthen our joint efforts to combat transnational such as ( ), trafficking in human beings, ( ), and the exploitation of migrants, ( ). - EC Communication COM(2003) 399/4 A new partnership with Southeast Asia': Issues of migration, trafficking in human beings are to incorporated systematically into EU regional and bilateral dialogues with Southeast Asia. - The Commission has indicated in its two last Communications on the Global Approach (COM (2006) 735 and COM (2007) 247) the necessity to also cooperate with Asia in the near future on the basis of the EU s Global Approach policy. As regard to labour migration, Communication COM (2007) 247 include the following specific recommendation for the Asia region: consideration must be given to the potential of labour migration from Asia. Increased 5

6 and well-managed mobility for certain categories of persons from the coutries of this region can be of high importance to the EU as well as to the socio-economic development of the countries themselves. Exchange on labour migration has been initiated in the context of ASEM and the scope for closer dialogue and cooperation with ASEAN in this area is currently being explored. The Commission suggests testing the ground with selected countries in the region via mobility partnerships. - Strategy Paper for the Thematic Programme of Cooperation with Third Countries in the Areas of Migration Asylum : EC migration strategy for the Asia region for the next four years is referred to in section of the Strategy Paper of the Thematic Programme Migration and Asylum. As regard to labour migration, the following key issues of common interest have been identified: (i) To create sources and systems of statistical information; (ii) To reinforce administrative services responsible for labour migration management so as to enable them to provide information to potential migrants on the risks linked to illegal immigration, as well as on available channels for legal migration, including the entry requirements to the EU and other foreign labour markets; and (iii) to contribute to the protection of migrants (especially female domestic workers) against exploitation, mistreatment, racism and xenophobia. Inter-regional policy dialogue frameworks: ASEM - Declaration of the ASEM Ministerial Conference on Cooperation for the Management of Migratory Flows between Europe and Asia, April 2002: Ministers commended the contribution of legal migration in enhancing social development and economic growth and in promoting Asia-Europe cultural exchange and mutual understanding. ( ) Ministers stressed the importance of enhancing the social integration of legal migrants, protecting their rights and ensuring the fair treatment while fully respecting the sovereignty of individual countries. Ministers agreed furthermore to fight against xenophobia, discrimination, labour and sexual exploitation of aliens in ASEM states. - Chairman s conclusions of the 1 st ASEM Labour and Employment Ministers Conference, September 2006: Recognising the major role of migration as an important factor for economic growth and employment within today s globalisation, the Chairman s conclusions of the September meeting have underlined among other things the importance of developing coordinated efforts towards effective management of migration processes as well as further investing in human capital (education, training policies, etc) in view of increasing labour mobility and integration of immigrants. The Chairman s conclusions subsequently called for enhanced regional cooperation (exchange of experience, policy concepts and best practices) on topics such as: vocational training and lifelong learning, migration issues, implementing decent work and occupational health and safety at work EU-ASEAN - Nuremberg Declaration on an EU-ASEAN enhanced Partnership, March 2007: EU and ASEAN agree to promote closer cooperation in addressing and combating ( ) trafficking in human beings ( ), by undertaking cooperative efforts in accordance with international law. - Joint Declaration of the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit: identify possible ways and mechanisms to cooperate to ensure the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of migrant workers. In light of the above latest developments, Mr Cordero identified the following challenges and opportunities with regard to Asia-EU migration: i) assess feasibility of circular migration between Asia and the EU and to take the concept to a practical level; ii) identify regular platform for dialogue; iii) establish mechanisms for safe and legal labour migration iv) build capacity on labour migration management (in particular data on countries of destination and origin) v) foster networking and cooperation amongst stakeholders (in particular private sector) vi) enhance legislation and replicate best practices vii) develop skills and qualifications recognition mechanism viii) assess the impact of recruitment of skilled workers versus brain drain Presentation by Mr. Julius Op de Beke, DG Employment and Social Affairs, European Commission Mr. Julius Op de Beke presented a detailed current and future scenario of European labour market based on various studies and statistics. Employment perspectives in the EU The Lisbon Agenda set ambitious employment targets for EU seeing employment and economic growth in recent years, with unemployment at around 7% currently. But can this employment growth last with demographic aging? After 2010 working age population will start to decline but employment rates will keep rising. 6

7 Migration perspectives The main source of migration to the EU is family reunification; The EU has many lowskilled migrants, many without work. The EU need to balance labour market investment and migration management and to achieve a better mix of migrants (high skilled and low skilled) and a better integration of those migrants already in EU. Thus before bringing more migrants in, the EU wish to activate first the unemployed migrants already present in the EU. Attracting a better mix of high and low skilled migrants would increase public acceptance of migration in Europe (and assist in achieving better integration and consequently employment?). A key issue is qualifications an unmanaged large scale influx of low skilled migrants could undermine the EU social model and welfare state whereas migration should contribute to the Welfare State Integrated Guidelines of the EU Employment Strategy include guidelines for economic migration management; Social inclusion process and migration : ESF Programme covering inter alia increase in participation of migrants in employment and strengthening social integration; Open Method of Coordination national reports on social inclusion: EU anti-discrimination policy Intra-EU mobility has not yet been tapped, yet employment rates of EU MS migrants are higher saw 3.3 million new jobs in Spain, 1.7 million of them went to migrants, mainly from non-eu third countries; by contrast during the same period Ireland saw the creation of new jobs, which went to migrants from new EU MS. Replacement migration to Poland and Romania following exodus of their nationals (eg. Ukraine to Poland) Unemployment in new EU MS is staring to decrease, following the general current trend in the EU. Some nationals are now returning home. Poland is proactively trying to get its workers back. So this could suggest a need to limit reliance in inter-eu migration and balance it with taking migrants from third countries. General points on EU migration policy developments: Global Approach, EU Directives and EC draft Directives on economic migration. Discussion Contribution of migration to economic development: Mr Polo of Spanish delegation, stressed that the EU society should change its negative perception towards migration. In Spain, according to a 2006 study, 30% of Spain s GDP growth in 2006 was due to immigration, with 8 billion total contribution to social security. Mr Polo further added that there was also a serious issue of wealth re-distribution: out of the 8 billion contributed by migrants, only 400 million were redistributed to legally residing migrants through the national pension scheme. Session 3: Development of Facilitated Labour Migration from Asia to Europe Moderator: H.E.Mr. Veestraeten, Ambassador Migration and Asylum, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium Presentation by Mr. Manuel Imson, Under-Secretary, Department of Labour and Employment, the Philippines Defining labour as a primary economic force in its constitution, the Philippine government is of the opinion that an effective migration management policy has to strike the balance between minimizing social costs and maximizing gains. In such perspective, the Philippine Government advocates for a migration management policy that is articulated on a right-based approach, ensures informed and intelligent decisions/choices to migrate and favours temporary/circular migration schemes. In line with this migration policy, the Philippine government has put in place programmes to prepare, support and protect its overseas workers at every step of the migration process: (i) Recruitment and pre-departure: in order to avoid cases of illegal recruitment, trafficking and smuggling and prepare individuals into making informed and intelligent decisions, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regulate the recruitment and overseas placement of workers, while providing various social services such as counselling and other pre-departure services. 7

8 (ii) (iii) Increasingly, migration services are also being delivered by non-state social partners (NGOs, faith-based groups, etc.) and the private sector. Promotion and protection of migrant workers: teams of Labour Attaché and Welfare Officer posted overseas to attend to welfare cases of Filipino migrants and provide legal and representation services. A Legal Assistance Fund is also in place to assist migrant workers in litigation cases, while an Emergency Repatriation Fund is available to cover the repatriation costs of migrants trapped in emergency situation such as wars or natural disasters. Filipino law also provides that workers may be deployed only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected. Return and Re-integration: recognising the development potential of migration, the Philippines government encourages the temporary/circular process of labour migration. To do so, the Philippine government provides migrant workers as early as before their departure, with information on remittances channels, financial literacy orientation on entrepreneurship and micro-enterprise development. Upon return, Filipino workers and their families can benefit from extensive re-integration assistance services (i.e. career counselling, skills training and upgrading, philanthropies, etc.) delivered by the Filipino Workers Resource Centres (throughout the country) and a National Reintegration Centre for Overseas Filipino Workers. The Philippines have already concluded a couple of agreements with Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom that have ensured entry of workers, assured decent wages, social protection, training complementation and recognition of skills. Similar efforts with other countries in Europe, extending to a range of professions could perhaps be pursued in the future. Reflecting on future cooperation between the EU and Asia, Manuel Imson identified the following key priorities: (i) stock tacking of supply and demand; (ii) irregular migration; (iii) skill development and qualification recognition; and (iv) brain drain. Presentation by Ms. Borbala Szigeti, DG JLS, European Commission Ms Borbala Szigeti, from the DG JLS gave a presentation on the EC Draft Directive on a single application procedure for a single permit for third-country nationals to reside and work in the territory of a Member State and on a common set of rights for third-country workers legally residing in a Member State (also known as the Framework Directive ): Policy Context: The proposal forms a part of EU efforts to develop a comprehensive immigration policy. The Tampere Council (1999) stated that the EU should ensure fair treatment of the thirdcountry nationals residing lawfully on the territory of the EU MS and that a more vigorous integration policy should aim to grant them rights and obligations comparable to those of EU citizens. After a first attempt in 2001 to pass a directive on economic immigration which failed to gain the support of the Council, the EC re-launched the debate on the issue of economic migration through the issuance of a Green Paper in January 2005 on the EU approach to managing Economic Migration. This Green Paper recommended launching a process of in-depth discussion on the most appropriate Community rules for admitting economic immigrants and on the added value of adopting such common measures. Building on this framework, the EC adopted in December 2005 a Policy Plan on Legal Migration which defined a road-map for the remaining period of The Hague Programme ( ) and listed the actions and legislative initiatives that the EC intends to take, so as to pursue the coherent development of EU legal migration policy. As per the outcome of the consultation process (involving public and private sector stakeholders) which clearly indicated that there are more support in the member states for highly qualified migration than for low-skilled, the Policy Plan divided up the field into sectors and called for the formulation and adoption of one framework directive and four sectoral directives (highly qualified employment; seasonal; intra corporate transferees; and remunerated trainees). Main aim: this EC draft aims to introduce a general framework for a fair (equal) and rights-based approach to labour migration by securing the legal status of already admitted third-country workers, in line with the broad philosophy of the Lisbon Agenda, and by introducing simplified procedure for the applicants. To achieve these objectives the Commission proposes to guarantee a common set of rights to all third-country workers lawfully residing in a Member State and not yet entitled to long-term residence status, and to introduce a single application procedure, along with a single residence/work permit. This current proposal does not touch upon admission conditions as those are still under the sole responsibility of the EU MS. Single Permits: If granted, the permit to stay and work should be issued in a single act. The "single permit" will adopt the existing harmonised EU format for residence permits. In practical 8

9 terms it means that the competent authority has simply to add information on the access to the labour market into an existing residence permit. The proposal also obliges Member States to indicate in all other existing residence permits issued for other purposes (e.g. family reunification, asylum, study) whether the third-country national is permitted to work. This will enable the responsible authorities to easily control if a third country national is working legally simply by looking at his/her residence permit. Equal treatment: Currently there is a "rights gap" regarding third-country workers compared to the EU MS own nationals. By acknowledging that legally employed third country nationals contribute to the European economy the same way EU citizens do, the proposal further grants legally working third-country nationals basic socio-economic rights on an equal footing with its own nationals. Equal treatment with nationals of a Member State, in principle, would apply to all third-country workers legally residing and not yet holding long-term resident status. Such equal treatment would include, working conditions (including pay and dismissal), health and safety at the workplace, education, vocational training, recognition of qualifications, social security (including health care), export of pensions once they are paid, access to goods and services (including procedures for housing) and tax benefits. Presentation by Ms Annedorte Elklit, Head of the Work Permit Division, Danish Immigration Service, Denmark Since 2002, Denmark is experiencing an overall shift in the issuance of its residence permits: more residence permits are being granted on study/work grounds rather than on family reunification. This has led to a change in the migrant population balance: while in 2001 the majority of residence permits were granted to non-eu nationals, the 2007 figures indicate a higher proportion of EU nationals being granted with residence permit. India and China are among the top source countries of non-eu labour migration. In Denmark, there exist three categories of residence and work permits: (i) (ii) (iii) The Ordinary Paid Employment: residence and work permit may be delivered on the basis of ordinary paid employment if (i) suitable qualified workers in Denmark are scarce; (ii) the work is of a special character; (iii) the terms of employment comply with the Danish standards (i.e. salary) and (iv) the applicant has a specific job offer (demand-driven). The Danish Transitional Scheme concerning Work Permit: this scheme applies to the ten new acceding EU MS and allows employers to get advance approval for recruiting workers from the new EU MS provided that that the employer is involved in a collective bargaining agreement regarding salary and employment conditions. The Jobcard Scheme: Jobcards are granted to highly skilled professionals (engineers, IT experts, etc.) working in sectors that are experiencing labour shortage. A positive list of labour-needing sectors is regularly reviewed and published for potential applicants. As of May 1 st 2007, the Jobcard scheme has been extended to include positions with an annual pay of DKK 450,000 (already been increased to DKK 463,050 irrespective of the field or nature of the job). Future policy plan for labour migration: In February 2008, the government launched a Job Plan to address the need for international recruitment. Among other things, the plan will make it easier for qualified workers to access Denmark as well as promote Denmark as a country of labour migration. Concerning work permit, the Job Plan will (i) expand the scope of the Positive List to include as well bachelor degree holders; (ii) will reduce the salary base requirement from 60,000 to 50,000 per year; (iii) will make it easier for employees to change job using the same work permit. Other initiatives to be undertaken under the 2008 Job Plan include: - conducting an analysis by a Government Task Force on the key barriers to international recruitment; - Set up of a Work-in-Denmark-Centres in New Delhi (pilot project) Those centre would serve as one-stop-shop office to get work permit on the spot; - Set up a new internet site with all information on working and living in Denmark; - Produce forms and any other relevant information materials in foreign languages; - Greater investment in Danish language course; - Greater focus on the integration of the family all together. Discussion: 9

10 In response to a question from the Sri Lankan delegate (Sri Lankan workers in Cyprus advised that their pension would be disbursed once they reach 65 years old), Ms Szigeti stated that the equal treatment provision of the directive does not touch upon the conditions for acquiring pensions it only provides that once TCN reaches pensionable age (65 years old), TCN can received their pension even if they no longer reside inside the EU, provided that the EU MS concerned allow the portability of pensions for its own nationals (principle of equal treatment). Ms Szigeti further added that the draft directive neither foresees the possibility to request and obtain the reimbursement of pension contributions upon return to the country of origin as such measures is to be based on bilateral agreements (not EC competence). In response to a question from the Vietnamese delegate on employer/employee relations, Ms Elklit said that the Danish labour market is well regulated by unions and trade associations. All work conditions provided under the work permit should meet the set Danish standards (for example in terms of salary). Mr Imson further added that in terms of return, the Philippines Government has developed a number of incentives to encourage Filipino workers to return. Those incentives include: cheaper housing, business loans, assistance for children (i.e. education), etc. Presentation of pre-employment advocacy materials under Philippine component of the EC-AENEAS Project on Facilitating Legal Migration from Asia to Europe. An information campaign film produced under AENEAS programme was shared by IOM National Programme Officer, Mr. Ricardo Casco. The film tilted Paano Ba Ang Mangarap? (How Does One Dream?), displayed conflicts of values an aspiring Filipino young migrant go through in forming his decision to work in Italy. The film depicted true-to-life situations where the youth are being lured to work abroad under very hazy rational and psycho-social foundation. The story showed the concern of national and local government on the effects of migration to the families and communities left behind. The film raised many disturbing questions for its intended audience to ponder, as part of their empowerment process for formulating a responsible decision on working abroad. Advocacy posters and stickers in the promotion of legal migration have also been distributed. Day 2 30 April 2008 Session 4: Circular Migration Striking the balance between labour and development needs Moderator: Mr. Janusz Grzyb, Head of the Department of Migration, Ministry of and Social Policy, Poland Mr. Grzyb took the opportunity to share a few thoughts on the Polish position with regard to labour migration. He affirmed that a large number of Polish nationals have in the recent years moved westward to other EU MS to seek better work opportunities. However, given the current rapid economic growth of Poland over the past years, Poland experiences an urgent need of workers, particularly in the agricultural and construction sectors, and nationals labour supply are no longer enough to fulfil these labour market shortages. Poland s migration policies have so far focused on mobility within the EU (i.e. UK, France and Germany), with little dialogue with non-eu third countries. Nonetheless Poland is now in the process of changing its internal structures in order to facilitate legal migration from the eastern countries of the European Neighbouring Policy (ENP) such as Ukraine and Georgia. New policies should be in place by September According to Mr. Grzyb, Poland is in principle interested in the circular migration concept. Circular Migration: the European Commission Perspective Presentation by Kristof Tamas, Immigration and Asylum Policy Officer, DG Justice, Liberty and Security, European Commission. The circular migration concept put forward by the European Commission in its Communication on Circular Migration and Mobility Partnerships (May 2007) has to be seen in correlation with the complex context of EU policies pertaining to migration, as well as the EU efforts of enhancing coherence between migration and development polices as highlighted in the Development Council Conclusions (Nov 2007). The Communication on Circular Migration and Mobility Partnerships concretely builds upon previous EC policy initiatives such as the Communications on 10

11 Migration and Development, the Policy Plan on Legal Migration, the Communications on the fight against illegal immigration and illegal work and ultimately aims to expand and give operational substance to the Global Approach to Migration (the general guiding framework for a common EU migration policy). The EU Council positively answered to the EC communication on circular migration both in its conclusions of June 2007 and December 2007 by acknowledging that circular migration: (i) can be useful in mitigating the adverse effect of brain drain; (ii) can contribute to co-development by meeting identified labour needs of countries of origin and destination; (iii) can be an incentive to mobility both for third country nationals taking up legal employment in the EU and for third country nationals settled in the EU wishing to go back to their country of origin on a temporary basis; and lastly (iv) it can be helpful in preventing overstaying and ensure return. In order to make this concept operational some actions have to be undertaken at institutional level. In this respect, the EC and EU MS should ensure that Community legislation on legal migration does not impede on circular migration (simplification of admission and entry procedures, facilitation of multi-annual or multi-entry permits, etc.) and the EC shall regularly report back to the Council on projects and national legislation that facilitate circular migration, identifying good practices and further develop policies conducive to greater mobility between EU and third countries. Furthermore, in order to guarantee the real circularity of process, a number of incentives and safeguards ought to be put in place. Those incentives and safeguards should include amongst others: pre-departure information, language/skills training, recognition of qualifications, portability of social security benefits, skills transfer, reintegration measures in the countries of origin, SME support, etc. Circular migration: a receiving country perspective Presentation by José Antonio Miguel Polo, Coordinator of International and Institutional Relations, Immigration Office in Spain Mr. Polo provided a receiving country perspective on circular migration by sharing the lessons learned of the Spanish government in managing circular labour migration programme. Migration to Spain is a recent phenomenon. However migration flows to Spain have rapidly grown from 895,720 foreigners legally residing in Spain in 2000 to 3,979,014 in Migration to Spain is of mixed skills (low medium or high). To face this new phenomenon, Spain decided to adopt a comprehensive approach including (i) facilitating channels for legal migration and migrants integration, (ii) fighting against illegal immigration and (iii) providing development aid to third countries. In order to properly manage legal migration, Spain opted for a political and legal framework made of two tools namely: (i) a list of all sectors experiencing labour shortages in the country and (ii) the so-called Contigente, which is the main legal tool enabling seasonal work to Spain. The Contigente, developed in consultation with national, regional and local authorities and social partners does not work on the basis of a quota per country system, but pre-establishes a provisional number of workers needed for specific jobs. However workers have mainly come from countries with which Spain has signed agreements on the management of migration flows. The Contigente put in place an easy procedure to hire third country nationals workers for a maximum of nine months out of twelve and grants the possibility to work in different seasons and with different employers. While the pre-selection of candidates is normally dealt by the authorities of the country of origin, the selection process under the Contigente is carried out by the authorities of both the country or origin and destination, together with the participation of the employers. The process is free of any charge for workers and is driven by the principles of transparency, nodiscrimination and equal opportunities. Seasonal workers are obliged to sign a written compromise to go back to their countries when the season(-s) ends. Seasonal workers who signed the compromise can be hired in the next years without going through again the selection process. Workers hired for four consecutive years can eventually benefit of procedure facilitation in terms of obtaining authorization to work in a permanent position. Employers obligations include: (i) paying at least the way in, (ii) providing adequate housing and (iii) granting the same labour rights and conditions granted to national workers. Mr Polo ended his presentation by giving concrete examples of successful projects that have already provided good practices of circular migration. Those projects include the IOM/AENEAS temporary and circular labour migration (TCLM) between Colombia and Spain: a model for consolidation and replication, the Cartaya/AENEAS programme for the management of ethical 11

12 seasonal migration as well as the Unió de Pagesos, Network of Co-development agents in different countries. Circular Migration: a receiving country perspective Presentation by Ms. Gloria Carroccio, Administrative Officer, Immigration Department, Ministry of Social Solidarity, Italy On behalf of the Italian government, Ms Carrocio provided another receiving country perspective on the issue of circular migration. In Italy, the Ministry of Social Solidarity Directorate General for Immigration deals both with the issue of entries for labour reasons of foreign citizens and with the social integration of migrants in Italy. It participates in the annual planning procedure of flows and, through an IT system, provides for the distribution at a local level and for the monitoring of quotas. In the annual decree of authorised flows, quotas are dedicated to countries who have signed with Italy bilateral agreements for cooperation on frontiers and readmission procedures or for the management of labour flows. Circular migration is a topical issue in the field of migration and according to the Italian government the political dialogue with third countries is of paramount importance in order to promote and secure circular migration. The first step to be taken is the conclusion of bilateral agreements with third countries, thus providing a legal framework for the implementation of circular migration schemes. Italy has long adopted this bilateral agreement approach as a means to provide an institutional framework for establishing/implementing circular migration schemes with third countries. The bilateral cooperation agreements that Italy has so far been concluding with its partner countries aim at achieving three main goals: to design and implement an adequate strategy of promotion and reinforcement of legal flows; to enhance migration management capacities of countries of origin in order to better meet the requirements of the European labour markets; and to better guarantee the rights of regular migrants in host societies. To date, Italy has concluded bilateral agreements for the management of labour migration flows with Egypt, Morocco, and Moldova. Negotiations are currently under way with Tunisia, while with Albania the agreement has been already positively negotiated. Workers from these countries benefit from preferential quotas of entry within the annual quota system of entries for work reasons and a number of operational projects (some funded by the EC) have already been put in place in order to facilitate the channelling and placement of these workers to Italy. The deployment of workers is usually accompanied by training (linguistic, cultural and civic) and pre-departure measures aimed at facilitating the integration of workers once in Italy. Preferential quotas are dedicated other countries, which have good cooperation relationships with Italy, including Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Philippines. Given Italy s successful experience through its current bilateral agreements to initiative functioning circular migration schemes with third countries, Italy is now committed to also adopt a similar bilateral agreement approach and extend its dialogue on migration issues (including the immigration of highly skilled workers) towards Central and South Asian countries where so far efforts have been limited to readmission issues only. However, Italy still observes major weaknesses that hamper the maturity of a full-fledged functioning circulation migration model as a means to promote legal migration. Those weaknesses are of technical nature and pertains mostly to (i) the lack of reliable data on the available labour force; (ii) the difficulty to disseminate adequate information on the available pool of workers; (iii) the difficulty to promote foreign power in the local labour market; (iv) skill recognitions; (v) insufficient linguistic training. Circular migration: an origin country perspective Presentation by Mr. Muhammad Jamil, Section Officer, Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Mr. Jamil provided the audience with an overall picture of the migration management practice in Pakistan and the challenges posed by international migration. His presentation mainly covered the following points: Pakistan has sent about 4.2 million people abroad, to more than 50 countries of the world since The major importing countries of Pakistani workers are US and the Gulf Countries. A mix of high, medium and low skilled migrant workers is exported from Pakistan to the aforementioned countries. 12