Immigration and Asylum [print sheet]
Last updated: 15/08/08

Since 1990, the EU has expanded its role in managing asylum and immigration. A large number of people migrate to the EU in search of work or as asylum seekers. How member states and the EU should deal with these new arrivals creates fierce disagreement between pro and anti-immigration parties. Many immigrants to the EU come from poor countries, seeking improved life chances in economically strong countries and taking jobs rejected by Europeans. But when migration is not managed and legal, it can become a vehicle for criminal activity which threatens law and order in member states.

All EU countries are signed up to the UN Geneva Convention (1950), which commits them to protect refugees by ensuring that they may not be expelled or extradited to a state where there is a serious risk that they would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman and degrading treatment. For example in 2008 the UN refugee agency criticised Greece's treatment of immigrants from Turkey and as a result Finland refused to send migrants back to Greece.

EU members were historically allowed to set their own policy on migration. However, the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and the Tampere European Council (1999) gave the EU responsibility for setting a Common Immigration and Asylum Policy, with the principal aim of making migration safe and legally controlled. Since 1997, EU member states have made slow progress in developing a common position on these issues and have yet to produce a full policy. Meanwhile, immigration has become a key issue in the national politics of several countries, with the rise of anti-immigration parties in the Netherlands, Austria and France. Some border countries, especially Spain and Italy, face growing pressure from poor neighbours in north Africa. In recent years, the EU has been receiving an average of 1.4million immigrants annually.

The 1997 agreement makes clear that the EU should control how many immigrants come into the EU by developing partnerships with the migrants' countries of origin and securing the EU's external borders to prevent illegal immigration. At the same time it should develop a policy that takes account of how many migrants any country can accept, the economic need for migrant labour and the capacity for immigrants to be integrated into the culture of their host country. To protect immigrants, it should ensure that new arrivals have rights comparable to those of existing citizens.

Steady movements have been made towards increasing the EU's jurisdiction in immigration and asylum. In 2004, for example, most aspects of asylum and immigration policy (under the umbrella of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) policy) were moved from unanimous to majority voting. The UK currently has the ability to 'pick and choose' the aspects of JHA legislation that it will adopt.

The Lisbon Treaty, due to come into force in 2009, will strengthen the ability for EU authorities to determine member states' immigration and asylum policies, although the UK's opt-out arrangements would continue in this policy area.In July 2008, the EU proposed a new 'European Pact on Immigration' which it hopes will result in a Common Asylum Policy by 2012. The proposal for a new Immigration Pact included: establishing single rules for asylum applications across the EU, deporting illegal immigrants and lengthening the time illegal immigrants can be detained. However, South American leaders criticised the proposal as "xenophobic".

• Under the Schengen Convention, EU member states co-operate to protect the EU's external borders. Common immigration policy is an important part of this process.
• Co-operation can help EU member states spread the burden of immigration more equally.

For

• Under the Schengen Convention, EU member states co-operate to protect the EU's external borders. Common immigration policy is an important part of this process.
• Co-operation can help EU member states spread the burden of immigration more equally.

Against

• Nation states, not the EU, should have the right to decide how many people come into their countries.
• Some believe that Europe cannot cope with many more migrants and should be tightening its borders

‘'[Migrants] are trying to abandon their misery and get to countries which supposedly have better living conditions.' - Enrique Santiago, CEAR Spanish Refugee Commission

'Massive immigration has only just begun. It is the biggest problem facing France, Europe and probably the world. We risk being submerged.' - Jean-Marie le Pen, Leader, French Front National

'European politicians have never quite understood the dynamism that immigrants bring, as long as the state ensures they have freedom, equality and real opportunities.' - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent, December 2002