Local Integration of Migrants Policy

European Experiences and Challenges

Jochen Franzke, José M. Ruano de la Fuente, Jochen Franzke, José M. Ruano de la Fuente

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030509781
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030509798
• Topic: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Subtopic: Öffentliche Ordnung

This book presents an overview of European migration policy and the various institutional arrangements within and between various actors, such as local councils, local media, local economies, and local civil society initiatives. Both the role of local authorities in this policy field and their cooperation with civil society initiatives or networks are under-explored topics for research. In response, this book provides a range of detailed case studies focusing on the six main groups of national and administrative traditions in Europe: Germanic, Scandinavian, Napoleonic, SoutheasternEuropean, Central-Eastern European and Anglo-Saxon.

© The Author(s) 2021

J. Franzke, J. M. Ruano de la Fuente (eds.)Local Integration of Migrants Policy Palgrave Studies in Sub-National Governancehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50979-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. New Challenges in Local Migrant Integration Policy in Europe

Jochen Franzke¹ and José M. Ruano de la Fuente²

(1)

Economics and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

(2)

Department of Political and Administrative Sciences, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain

Jochen Franzke (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

José M. Ruano de la Fuente

Email: [email protected]

Keywords

MigrationPolicyIntegrationLocal authoritiesCoordinationCivil society

End Abstract

This book mainly examines new challenges and approaches in national and local migrant integration policy (hereafter referred to as ‘integration policy’) in European countries. The so-called European refugee crisis, which up to now culminated in 2015, dramatically heightened the need for effective and coordinated integration policies. This applied to all political and administrative levels, from the EU Commission at the supranational European level, the national governments of its member states to the regional and, not least, local authorities. This has inevitably resulted in a further diversification of policies regarding refugees, asylum seekers and other categories of migrants in Europe.

After a long development process, the European Union finally granted their citizens the right to freedom of movement and residence within their territory in 2004. Since then, the term ‘immigrant’ within the European Union has officially exclusively used to refer to non-EU citizens. Accordingly, the European commission defines ‘immigration’ as the action by which a person from a non-EU country establishes his or her usual residence in the territory of an EU country for a period that is, or is expected to be, at least twelve months. Nevertheless, large parts of the population still regard all kinds of immigrants as foreigners.

Immigration today is one of the main political challenges of European integration and perhaps even the future of the EU hinges on solving this issue. The number of people with citizenship of a non-member country residing in an EU Member States on 1 January 2018 was 22.3 million, representing 4.4% of the EU-28 population. In addition, there were 17.6 million persons living in one of the EU Member States other than that of their citizenship (Eurostat 2018).

1.1 Multi-Level Governance and Migration Policy

In the context of migration, the scientific literature focusses more frequently on the terms cultural, structural and social integration of migrants (see Heckmann 2015, p. 72; Freeman and Mirilovic 2016; Brettell and Hollifield 2000) by set apart between the social integration of individuals and that of system integration, which deals with group-related and institutional processes. The latter is the focus of our book.

The integration of migrants is both a final goal and a long-term process. Alba and Nee (2003, p. 23) formulate it like this: “Integration is a process wherein immigrant newcomers and the communities in which they settle – both the individuals and institutions – mutually adapt to one another. Integration is also an endpoint reached when individuals only minimally perceive themselves and others in ethno-racial and national terms, when these attributes have, at most, a negligible negative impact on opportunities and life chances”.

Competences in the policy field of migration and integration are distributed across different layers within the multi-level governance system in the European Union, its member (national) states, the regions and the local tiers of government (counties and municipalities).

The focus of this volume is on the developments in integration policy at the local level. Nevertheless, there is a strong link between national and local integration policies. Additionally, the national integration policies in Europe differ vastly between the EU countries, as well as over time. Therefore, not only the national legal framework of integration policy, but also the current political and cultural debate on the integration of migrants at the national level should be included. At the same time, we must remember that the traditional state-centric modes of government increasingly fall short of ‘addressing the complex nature of contemporary integration challenges’. As a result, more polycentric approaches of governance have gradually emerged between a range of government actors, as well as semi-public, non-governmental and even private organisations. In fact, since the so-called refugee crisis in 2015, local governance networks in many EU countries have demonstrated that they can react more quickly and more effectively to the new challenges than any state institution. At the same time, of course, they also present a challenge to the formulation of a coherent and consistent integration policy at the national level (Scholten 2012, p. 47).

Scholars and policy makers have long focused predominantly on the national level when analysing migration and integration policy. Yet, scholars have increasingly recognised that “while we often think of immigrants as moving from one country to another, really they arrive from a particular place and settle in a particular community” (Singer 2012, p. 9). Migration concerns municipalities, and consequentially, its benefits and burdens are most experienced at the local level (Scholten and Penninx 2016, p. 89). When migrants arrive in their communities and plan to live there, local authorities have a responsibility to act. When no national integration policy exists or is counterproductive, local authorities forced to develop their own integration policies shaped by pragmatism, participation and trust (Scholten and Penninx 2016, p. 99). Municipalities, especially larger cities, tend to take on a more active role, not only in policy implementation, but also in policy formulation and in policy exchange (Capono and Borkert 2010, p. 11). In light of this, the question arises whether these new polices still follow the models of their national state or whether distinct local approaches already exist.

In this context, we present three hypotheses. First is the national model thesis, which assumes a top-down hierarchical government structure and consequently claims that local authorities predominantly implement national migration policies (Dekker et al. 2015). Second is the local dimension thesis, which argues that all policies adopted by municipalities share certain common characteristics. While some are more pragmatic and place greater emphasis on cooperation with migrant organisations to better fulfil their needs, others are more exclusive and restrictive to migration, fearing that migrant communities could threaten social peace and public order in the receiving societies (Capono and Borkert 2010; Dekker et al. 2015). Third, the individualisation thesis claims that each local authority develops its own, distinct policy. This is determined by specific indicators such as the economic situation, existing migrant population and local political culture as well as other factors including the housing situation, level of employment, demographic issues, public safety and access to services (Dekker et al. 2015; Gambetta and Gedrimaite 2010; Juzwiak et al. 2014).

1.2 The Role of Local Authorities in Integration Policy

Above all, since 2015 the role that local authorities play in the integration of migrants has increased sharply in many European countries. This role “has developed from primarily a level of policy implementation to a level of policy development” (Scholten and van Breugel 2018, p. 3). Many municipalities in a number of European countries have moved towards an active integration policy, sometimes beyond the scope of their formal competences in this area (OECD 2018).

The so-called European refugee crisis of 2015 has accelerated this development and the focus of policy makers and scholars has thus shifted towards the local level.

New challenges have also emerged at the horizontal level (see Kraal and Vertovec 2017). Local integration policy now focuses much more on in-house cross level and cross-department coordination within local administration than in the past. The ability to respond to multi-dimensional needs and create opportunities for migrants’ calls for strong coherence in implementation measures related to housing, health, employment, education, welfare, etc. (OECD 2018). Additionally, cooperation between local authorities and local (non-state) stakeholders or actors is increasing, for example civil society institutions supporting migrants and refugees, or local private firms offering employment opportunities, etc. Also, in the vertical dimension, new challenges of coordination between the different levels of governments have emerged, including an increasing number of conflicts over the resources and competencies in this area. All these changes present a huge challenge to local administrative capacity and local fi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. New Challenges in Local Migrant Integration Policy in Europe
• 2. Between Central Control and Local Autonomy: The Changing Role of Swedish Municipalities in the Implementation of Integration Policies
• 3. The Norwegian Case: Integration Through Local Autonomy and Institutionalization
• 4. Finland’s Immigration Policy: State Objectives, Local Solutions
• 5. The Swiss Rationale of Integration Policies: Balancing Federalism, Consociationalism and Direct Democracy
• 6. Migration in the Netherlands: Threats and Opportunities
• 7. Germany: From Denied Immigration to Integration of Migrants
• 8. Ireland’s Evolving Migrant Policy: Recurring Rhetoric, Sporadic Action
• 9. Reception of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in France: Between Rigour and Humanism
• 10. Immigration and Integration Policies in Poland: Institutional, Political and Social Perspectives
• 11. Slovenian Migration Management at the Local Level
• 12. Local Integration Policy of Migrants in Croatia: In Search of Coherence and Capacity
• 13. Romania’s Policy of Migration and Integration: Unattractive Host Nation and Alternative Transit Route
• 14. Challenges of Immigrant Integration in Spanish Local Governments
• 15. Internal Geopolitics and Migration Policies in Italy
• 16. Public Opinion on Migration and the Role of the Media in the Context of the “European Refugee Crisis”
• 17. Integrating Immigrants: Capacities and Challenges for Local Authorities in Europe
• 18. Conclusions: An Overview of Local Migrant Integration Policies in Europe
• Back Matter