European countries have undergone deep transformations since the end of the Second World War, particularly with regard to the increasingly diverse composition of their populations due to migration processes. These developed in the 1950s, 60s and 70s in Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, then in the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) and more recently in former emigration countries that have now become host-countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal).
The ways in which immigration policies are implemented (temporary immigration, colonial and/or organized by bilateral conventions, etc.) have converged with relatively no intergovernmental dialogue. The deepening European integration has led to the creation of an institutional framework for a European immigration and asylum policy. Even though, strictly speaking, there is no common policy, the Europeanization of this public policy is in progress. If the regulation of foreigners’ entry, freedom of movement and right to stay in the European territory is the focal point of legal and political debates within European and national institutions, issues regarding the integration of foreigners have traditionally remained within the realm of national sovereignty, more specifically so for rules of citizenship.
In addition to the political and institutional factors, the Europeanization of immigration policies is under the influence of at least two new processes. The first one is a consequence of the specificities of these new migrations. The processes of globalisation and growing urbanisation that characterise the 21st century are bringing about a new age of migrations (Castles & Miller, 2003). Mobility and freedom of movement are values that are pursued and are essential factors for social advancement. They have an effect on increasingly complex migratory models. Indeed, the simple duality of working immigration and settlement immigration is no longer operational. The entry of tourists or students feed these new migration processes as much as working immigration, asylum or family regrouping.
In addition, freedom of movement within Europe strengthens movements of migration. In Europe today the national origins and statuses of new migrants are very different from the past. Since the fall of the Berlin wall and the enlargement of the European Union, many immigrants come from Central and Eastern Europe. The era of the illiterate male immigrant from a rural area is long gone: the new migrants are more often women, city-dwellers and highly educated.
The second change is due to the transformation of identities within Europe. This affects nationals as well as foreigners. As a supranational identity is being created at the European level, European States are faced with at times quite strong re-emerging national and regional identities. In addition, legal tools, institutional practises, social interactions and representations all contribute to the metamorphosis of the image of the foreigner in Europe.
Immigration used to be largely indexed on the economic aspect and on the need to respond to demands of the labour market. Today, however, the social tensions and political passions produced by immigration are mostly linked to issues of belonging and identity. The representation of the foreigner is no longer solely defined by his or her place on the labour market or in the social hierarchy. Because of its enlargement and immigration flows, European society is increasingly questioning its cultural and « ethnic identity ».
http://www.ulb.ac.be/socio/germe/outsiders.pdf
http://www.ulb.ac.be/socio/germe/
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