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Valuing diversity: guidance for labour market integration of migrants

potential for integration, accounting for elements such as the existence of
sponsors, the guarantee of a suitable accommodation, a period of previous
residence (in Spain and Lithuania), a level of proficiency in the receiving
country’s language (Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Poland). Some
countries may require the signing of an integration contract, with a series of
agreed measures (Austria and Spain), while some might also establish quotas for
family reunification (Austria).
The alleged current tendency is that migrant admission systems are
demand-driven. National states frequently advertise the fact that, as in developed
non-EU countries, such as Australia or Canada, they now regulate the admission
of foreign workers to serve the skills needs of the economy. Integration in the
labour market of third-country migrants is normally supported for highly skilled
immigrants and bilateral agreements might exist for the integration of lower-
skilled workers, according to market needs. One of the increasingly preferred
ways of attracting highly skilled workers is introduction of the point-based
systems.
While PBS are becoming an assumption of immigrant admission systems
across Europe, they do not necessarily translate market demands, due to the low
participation of employers in defining occupational lists. Further, participation by
SMEs in the system is reduced and difficult (see Section 4.5), which makes PBS,
as many of them currently stand, flawed systems in terms of economic efficacy
and labour market match-making. It follows that while national states show
political concern for rationalisation of migrant flows to serve the economy better,
they need to take further steps to make this concern a reality, promoting the
engagement of the full spectrum of employers.
However, the European Commission’s evaluations and country-specific
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recommendations (CSR) ( ), show that while PBS are being implemented on the
admission side, effective integration, reflected in participation by immigrants in
the labour market, training and civil society, is still low. Labour market and
education outcomes are still significantly lower for immigrants, and there are
considerable social risks and exclusion phenomena in migrant communities.
The Commission’s analysis acknowledges the effort of many states to
develop measures to fight immigrant unemployment, educational disengagement
and poverty risk. Nevertheless, it also highlights that a lot of these measures are
generalist and not sufficiently targeted to migrant needs. The CSRs recommend
greater attention to the situation of migrants with lower income levels, women

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( ) http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/making-it-happen/country-specific-
recommendations/ [accessed 18.3.2014].

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