econ single market chapter 7

the free movement of workers 1958

• rome treaty

• from italy to the rest of the eu

• 1950-1960 eu switched from net emigration to net immigration due to growth

maastricht treaty 1992

free movement of persons

• eu citizenship

• not too much of troubles as the eu member states were relatively equal

• 2004 citizens directive: access to health care and education within eu states, right to live after retirement etc.

2004 large eastward expansion of EU

• 2004-2007 expansions brought 12 countries with lower salaries than other EU15 countries

• massive migration was expected

• to avoid migration shock: EU15 countries were allowed to restrict immigration for up to 7 years

• britain, sweden and ireland did not impose this restriction

• however, little report of intra-immigration

in UK, Ireland and Sweden little report of intra-migration. WHY

• a resistance to moving

• the goal to catch up with the EU15 countries reduced the incentives to leave their home

what was the idea of inclluding the free movement of workers as one of the fundamental principles of eu economic integration?

• to enhance economic efficiency by allowing workers to find the best suited jobs and allowing firms to find the best fit workers

• political level, the belief that mobility would lead to mutual understanding of peoples of Europe.

national labour markets in the EU are on their own, not integrated

• very different legislations and practices across countries

• we cannot speak of a european labour market

the average employment rate

varies from one country to another

from high employment to low employment

• non-EU advanced economies

• the other EU countries (except for Germany and the Netherlands)

• eurozone countries

the average unemployment rate

mismatch of supply and demand

differs from nation to nation

reasons why unemployment rate differs from nation to nation

1. economic or political events can hit one country more than the other

   1. greece 2009

2. high unemployment benefits may reduce the incentives to take up new jobs

social dumping

the view held by richer EU states that:

• competition through European integration will reduce the social protection in the older member states

• WHY?

  • when Central and Eastern European countries joined, their wages were much lower than EU15 countries

  • also non-wage costs

  • such fears called for social harmonization of most social policies, but never done

many migrants depending on

• purpose of migration

  • economic

  • educational

  • family related

  • other (refugees)

• the legal status

  • regular or irregular

• duration of stay

  • temporary or permanent

overall EU population and original EU population growth

• overall european has not fallen since immigration exceeded emigration

• HOWEVER, original EU population growth has declined

  • dropped to zero, negative in italy

  • slight decline in death rate

  • large decline in birth rate

this ageing of the population causes many challenges

• social welfare systems are paid by taxes working people pay

• a lot of spending for pension payment and medical care

• as the working population falls, fewer worksers to pay for the care

• constant economic pressure to admit more young workers,

  • caused the overall european population not to shrink

economic immigrant need both in 1950s and nowadays

1950s and 1960s

• north western europe was experiencing rapid growth, short of workers

• immigration from spain, Portugal greece (at the time not a EEC member)

• germany and belgium attracted from turkey

nowadays

• immigration is needed to offset the ageing of the European native population

• mainly from outside the eu

does eu have lots of intra-eu migration

• mainly citizens from Central and Eastern EU members that moved to Western europe

• Germany and UK were the main destinations

does eu have lots of immigration from outside the eu?

YES

main motives

• work

• education

• family reasons

• others (refugees)

in 2015 70% of foreign workers were from non-eu countries

30% was from other eu member states

intra-eu mobility population according to citizenship

intra-eu mobility has not reached high levels: luxembourg is the exception mostly from northewest and southern european countries.

large differences between countries intra-eu mobiltiy:

• share of Central and Eastern Europeans is most in Austria and Ireland, Germany and U

share of foreign citizens differs by nation

• rather low in Eastern and cEntral Europe

• higher in western european states

• high in Estonia and Latvia

  • former inclusion of Soviets - Russian nationals continue to live there

labour migration is the most disputed aspect of economic integration in Europe. WHY

• immigrants are held responsible for high unemployment, abuse of social welfare programs, street crime etc.

what does the theory tell us about migration?

• immigrants moslty fill jobs no native wants to do

• however, sometimes there may be competition for the native people for low-skill jobs

• on the opposite, the immigrant may have high education and specific skills that are lacking by the nation

  • good for the receiving nation

  • less likely to create losers in the nation

  • micro-level matching

what does the evidence tell us

• micro-level matching is uncontroversial and good for the nation

• immigrants from outside the EU, mostly less educated

  • could be good if in the nation no one else wants to do that job

  • could be bad for the competition for lowest paid workers>politically contraversial

  • empirical evidence on unemployment is mixed

    • for some group of workers it may affect but for some it may not

    • other authors found not relation

    • nO RELATION MOSTLY

      • due to the fact that contries tend to pick immigrants to avoid large negative effects on unemployment rates

why is there such low mobility within the EU

despite the stated policy, there are barriers to mobility

• pension rights

  • finns work until 67, italy until 50 etc.

• unemployment benefits

  • moving else within the eu, you can only get 3 months of unemployment benefits

• regulated professions: harisdresser in france

• language

asylum seeker vs refugee

asylum seeker: someone who is seeking for protecction in another country but has not yet obtained official refugee status

refugee: someone who was forced to flee their home country because it was unsafe and government cannot protect them

migration shock of 2015-2016

• most arrived in greece, italy and psain or hungary

• many of them moved to germany and other northern countries

• most of them came from syria, ıraq and afgahnistan

many differences between countries in terms of asylum seekers

• many files in germany, hungary and sweden

• less in austria and italy

• many pending applications

two key EU shortcoming challenges

1. eu external borders

   1. very little done at eu level

   2. mostly for individual member states to protect the borders

2. rules for asylum was not designed for many applications at once

   1. dublin system was used

measures taken by the EU chronologically (4 measures)

1. some countries faced important challenges in terms of emergency response capacity (Greece, libya and turkey). EU gave money

2. partnerships with north african countries

   1. Migration Partnership Framework:

      1. to limit illegal immigration and smuggling of migrants

      2. to improve protection of eu borders, including mediterranean coast

      3. ethiopia, mali, nigeria senegal

3. improve reception and integration of asylum seekers and migrants in the eu

   1. reform dublin convention »new pact on migration and asylum

4. EU turkey deal

Dublin convention of 1990

• first eu lgeal agreement assigning responsiblity for asylum applications to member states

• HOW?

  • an asylum seeker can only apply şn one eu nation and that should normally be the eu nation where he entered first

  • asylum shopping

    • in theory asylum seekers cannot choose the country where they made their applications, in practice they avoided registration until they reached a country they wanted

    • many in germany

    • multiple applications or secondary movements

    • there had been little redistribution of applicants between member states

proposal for dublin 4 reform (2 main options)

1. streamline the dublin system and complement it with a fair correction system (redistribute when a member state is overturned)

2. move to a completely new system based on permanent allocation key:

   1. replacement of first point of entry st-ystem with a new system that allocates asylum applicants based on a permanent distribution key based on the size, wealth and absorption capacity of each member state

ıt did not materialized!!

came up with “pact on migration and asylum” in 2020

“pact on migration and asylum” in 2020

• 3 main pillars

• to discourage migration by supporting the origin countries to create a better life there

• to modernize the border security under a common and shared responsiblity

• solidarity and burden sharing where countries of first entry could trigger solidarity mechanisms to reduce pressure on the system

EU-TURKEY deal

The eu agreed to give money to Turkey to take back the asylum seekers who were refused asylum in the EU

• turkey would take measures to stop people from going to greece

• anyone arrived would be returned back to turkey

• eu would pick refugees who waited in turkey to come to eu

• in exchange:

  • turkey would receive money to improve humanitarian situation

  • turkish nationals would be granted visa-free travel to eu

update on eu-turkey deal

• in turkey refugees were granted temporary protection with fewer rights

• violations against refugees

• migrants started to take over more dangerous routes

• turkey started asking for more money

• then opened the border with greece before covid

• to obtain:

  • more money

  • modernisation of the customs union with eu

  • lifting of visa restrictions

covid19 slowed down the influx of asylum seekers

• closed all the external borders to slow down the virus

putin’s special military operation led to a wave of ukranian asylum seekers 2022

• they were considered real refugees

• eu citizens were more open to welcome these ukranians than non-european refugees

a new peak in arrivals since end of 2022 and beinning of 2023

• no more corona travel restrictions

• violent conflicts in several countries

• food insecurity caused by the war in ukraine

• mostly from syria, afghanistan and turkey

  • syrian civil war

  • taliban

  • inflation in turkey and erosion of democratic principles

  • palestinian applications late 2023-2024-2025

what happened to the pact on migration and asylum

• new rules entered into force in june 2024

• BUT the full aplication of rules will only begin after 2 year transition period

a fence with a door

there will be control to see who should be helped

for the people who are not entitled to protection, that should become clear at the door

today

• palestine and israel

• extra deals made by the EU with other African countries: Tunisia, Mauretania and Egypt

  • take people back in exchange for money and build reception centers for migratns outside europe

  • limit people coming in

  • showing voters that they are dealing with the problem

  • even if these countries are also authoritarian with human rights violations, agreements are done. MORAL COMPASS

results of the european parliament elections in june 2024

• european people’s party won the most seats

• pro-eu, libeal lost seats

• anti-eu right wing populist parties gained votes

public debates on migration policies

the latest eurobarometer results show that:

• eu citizens consider security and defence together with migration for the main priority areas of eu

• continue supporting ukraine

• refugee crisis is linked to terrorism and insecurtiy, fewer economic opportunities for natives etc.