Labour Migration Policies of European Countries

Reinhard Lohrmann"

INTRODUCTION

During the last few decades, there has been a significant volume of labour immigration into Western Europe. These migrants are often referred to as guest workers. However, such a general label masks substantial differences in the source and composition of the migration streams into the European countries, as well as differences in country policies pertaining to these flows.

A common feature of many European countries in the post-war period, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, was a substantial increase in the output of the industrial and services sectors. This was accom- panied by a reallocation of resources from the primary sector to the secondary and services sectors, and from the secondary to the services sector. This reallocation process drew large numbers of nationals into the secondary and services sectors and, in the process, led to a widening of professional career opportunities and an upgrading of skills. Many low-level jobs were vacated as native workers moved to high-level jobs. This shift left gaps in the labour supply, despite the fact that many low-level jobs disappeared as a result of technological progress and the transfer of production to developing countries. These emerging labour shortages were met increasingly by foreign workers. Table 1 (page 418) provides information regarding the stocks of foreign labour in selected OECD countries over the period 1980- 1990.

The sources of foreign labour differed between the European coun- tries. Some countries derived their foreign labour from a limited

* Chief of the Division of Research and Forum Activities, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva, Switzerland.

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number of countries, while others, in particular those with extended colonial links, admitted persons from a variety of countries/areas, including non-European countries, particularly from Turkey and North Africa. Not only did the European labour importers derive their migrant workers from different sources, but the skill composition also differed between countries with some admitting unskilled labour while others focused more on skilled and semi-skilled labour.

Distinctions can be observed also with respect to policies pertaining to the conditions of admittance. Some countries, for instance, France, the UK, and the Netherlands, admitted a portion of their foreign workers as nationals; in particular, those originating from (former) colonies and non-European territories. Moreover, the acquisition of nationality by the children born in the receiving country to foreign born parents was facilitated. These measures have had a significant influence on the percentage of recorded foreigners. Other countries have granted nationality only after a long period of residence, in some cases of at least ten years, and only then after the aspiring citizen has shown command of the dominant language. The latter approach results in a relatively low rate of acquisition of citizenship status and consequently increases the percentage of foreign nationals in the population.'

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the labour immigration policies of the European states over the last few decades and speculate as to the future direction of these policies.

MIGRATION POLICIES OF INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES

As noted above, post-war European labour immigration coincided in most countries with a long period of economic growth, accompanied by labour shortages, which commenced in the 1950s and continued until the first oil crisis in late 1973, with the exception of a temporary lull during the short recession of 1966/67. Throughout this period, the countries importing labour viewed most of their newly acquired foreign workers as a temporary expedient; permanent settlement was not envisaged.

Although similar economic circumstances gave rise to labour immi- gration in the various Western and Northern European countries, specific immigration programmes and their impacts differed consid- erably between receiving countries.

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Switzerland

Switzerland, where foreigners comprise over 16 per cent of the population (Table 2, page 420), and Sweden were the first receiving countries to have concluded bilateral labour recruitment agreements in the post-war period. In 1948, Switzerland, responding to growing labour shortages, concluded a labour supply agreement with Italy. A principal stipulation of the agreement was that of “rotation”, i.e. a migrant worker would receive a work permit for a limited period of time after which he/she had to return to Italy. The agreement stipulated that no Italian worker could remain in Switzerland continu- ally for 10 years, the period of time necessary to qualify for permanent residence in that country. Clearly, the aim of the rotation policy was to prevent permanent immigration and, allegedly, to prevent Swiss workers from being exposed to the competition of foreigners (Leimgruber, 1992).

The sustained growth of the Swiss economy in the 1950s and 1960s created a growing demand for foreign labour. This demand led the authorities, over the years, to extend recruitment to other countries. The influx of Italians was followed by the Spanish and Portuguese, and later by Yugoslavs and Turks. In the 1960s, the strict foreign labour rotation policy was changed and foreign workers could obtain a new work permit every year. This new policy was of benefit to employers since it allowed them to retain workers who they trained. It also aided in reducing fluctuations in the supply of foreign workers.

Under Switzerland’s foreign labour policy, which was formulated in the 196Os, the Federal Office of Industry, Trade and Labour deter- mines for each canton the annual number of seasonal and annual work permits which can be granted. However, there is an overall national annual limit on the number of foreign workers. A seasonal permit allows a foreigner to work for a maximum of nine months in a sector with typical seasonal activities, e.g. tourism, agriculture and construc- tion. After expiry of their contract, the worker has to return to his country of origin. However, an employer can apply for the renewal of a specific worker’s seasonal work permit for the next year. Only after four years of seasonal work can an annual work permit be granted to a foreign worker. It authorises the foreigner to establish residence in Switzerland and to be joined by hisher family.

Switzerland is the only European country which presently maintains a seasonal worker scheme. If, as envisaged, Switzerland joins the

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European Economic Area (EEA) in 1993, it will have to abandon its work permit system for the nationals of other EEA states and intro- duce instead the prevailing system of freedom movement of EEA citizens within the European Community for employment purposes. However, the seasonal work permit system is expected to be main- tained vis-&-vis third countries, for instance Central and Eastern European countries as well as those outside Europe.

Sweden

Swedish labour migration policy and experience show some similar- ity with, but also clear differences from, other European immigration countries. The regulations for the recruitment and admittance of foreign labour from non-Nordic countries were similar to those of the Federal Republic of Germany (Hammar, 1985). Also in similarity to the FRG, migrant workers were often placed in heavy, monotonous and risky jobs or in places where Swedes did not want to work. However, a considerable number of migrants in Sweden are from other Nordic countries. Their status is determined by the 1954 agreement on the creation of the common Nordic labour market which established the principal of freedom of movement for Nordic country citizens and entitles them to enter, reside and work in any other Nordic country without restrictions. In turn, the (less significant) immigra- tion of workers from non-Nordic countries, mainly Yugoslavia and to a lesser extent Turkey, required foreigners to have employment, housing and work permits arranged in advance, before entering the country.

The Swedish migration policy combines temporary labour migration with a permanent residence policy similar to that used by the former colonial powers who admitted individuals from former overseas temtories as citizens. The underlying principal is one of equality between migrants and nationals which presupposes that migrants, once admitted, can stay in the country even when they are unem- ployed. Sweden was the first country in Europe to recognise the right of migrant workers to stay in the country if they so wished and to be joined immediately by their families. This implied the granting of equal social rights, including political voting rights, depending on the length of residence in the country. Sweden recog- nised the right to freedom of choice as to which ethnic culture the immigrant wished to belong. Another principle of Swedish immigra- tion policy is free tuition in the Swedish language for the worker and his family, as well as tuition in the worker’s native language for

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his dependents. These principles were adopted in 1975 as official policy goals (Hammar, 1985). Sweden, commencing in 1972, was the first European country to terminate further recruitment of foreign labour.

The Former Colonial Powers (France, Netherlands, UK)

In comparison to other receiving countries in Europe, the former colonial powers of France, the Netherlands and the UK faced a special situation with respect to immigrants from former colonies. In many cases, these persons were considered nationals or benefited from special rules allowing their arrival and admittance to the labour market. While the UK almost exclusively admitted persons from former colonies, France and the Netherlands, like the other Western European receiving countries, also pursued a policy of active recruit- ment from countries other than their former colonies. For instance, France, besides receiving workers from Algeria, also had a large intake of foreign labour from Italy, Spain and Portugal; the Nether- lands admitted foreign labour notably from Morocco and Turkey. Although persons from the New Commonwealth had the right of residence and access to the UK labour market, they were nonetheless to a large extent employed in low salary categories (Layton-Henry, 1985; Rees, 1979), unless they possessed specific skills in insufficient supply in the UK. This was true also for a number of Dutch nationals arriving in the Netherlands before the independence of Surinam. Similarly, persons coming from Algeria before its independence in 1961 were employed largely in unskilled jobs. This development is partly due to the fact that many national workers, over time, tookmore qualified, higher paying positions, leaving gaps in the lower levels of the labour market. This phenomenon was observed in other European receiving countries also.

The UK experience was significantly different from that of countries such as Germany and Sweden. In the latter countries, in the 1960s, foreign labour was systematically recruited with specific skills to fill specific vacancies. However, in the UK, immigrants from the British colonies, and states which had been former colonies, arrived sponta- neously and possessed qualifications of a lower standard than those workers recruited by the European countries. Thus the dominance of unskilled labour among UK immigrants is explained by the conditions of their admission. The situation of the UK also differs from that of the European immigration countries in that the UK allows unre- stricted labour movement from Ireland.

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ELEMENTS OF COMPARISON

What are the salient features of this brief and unavoidably schematic overview of the labour immigration approaches and policies in post- war Europe? Despite the marked historical, economic and social differences between countries, the period of the late 1950s to the early 1970s was characterised by large-scale labour inflows into the West- ern European industrial countries. These inflows were the direct result of a period of prolonged and almost uninterrupted economic growth which was manifest in widespread labour shortages. Despite differences in their recruitment procedures, all of the countries ended up with a considerable level of immigration for the purpose of family reunion.

Because of the influx of immigrant workers’ dependents, the labour force participation rate of Europe’s foreign born population declined over time. Since the mid-l970s, the unemployment rate among immigrant groups has been rising as well. Because most European countries viewed the import of foreign labour as a temporary expedient, policies aimed at social and cultural integration were not instituted. As a result, not all resident immigrant groups are well integrated. One positive common feature of the different employment schemes is that foreign workers were included in local social security schemes.

In general, for all of the European immigration countries, what was initially perceived to be temporary recruitment of foreign labour was transformed into permanent immigration flows with their own distinct characteristics.

POLICIES IN THE 1970s AND 1980s

A turning point in Western European labour migration, as indicated earlier, was the first oil crisis in 1973, which provoked a sharp increase both in oil prices and the prices of other forms of energy. Due to the adverse growth consequences of higher energy prices, the oil crisis soon resulted in a halt to foreign labour recruitment. However, for constitutional, legal and political reasons, including the recognition of the protection of the families of migrants legally residing in the receiving countries, immigration for family reunion continued. At the same time, return migration to the countries of origin diminished as the possibility for re-emigration and re-employment of migrant work-

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ers in the industrial countries were no longer available. The combi- nation of immigration for family reunion and return migration resulted in a degree of stability in the numbers of foreigners for the remainder of the decade. However, since the early 1980s, the overall numbers of foreigners in the receiving countries increased again. This was due to family reunion immigration, a higher birth rate among immigrant groups and an increase in the number of asylum seekers. However, this rise in the numbers of foreigners was not matched by a growth in their employment since slow or, at the best, modest economic growth led to a reduction of vacancies and growing unem- ployment.

Thus, recruitment of foreign labour was ended after the oil crisis of 1973 and has not been part of official policy since. Only the countries of origin heavily hit by the 1973/74 recruitment cessation requested that labour recruitment be resumed under bilateral agreements to help them overcome the negative effects arising from the economic crisis and return migration.

More recently, the Southern European countries of Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal have undergone a transition from emigration to immigration countries. A positive migration balance was realised in these countries beginning in the 1970s as a result of declining emigration opportunities and a return of their nationals who had previously emigrated to Northern Europe. Beginning in the 1980s, however, these Southern European countries experienced an immi- gration of nationals from non-European countries. This was the result of their economic development and rapid industrialisation over the 1960s and 1970s which induced a growth in the demand for labour. This was met first by returning nationals and, later on, by foreign labour, particularly in unskilled jobs. However, the employment of foreign labour in the Southern European countries developed sponta- neously rather than as a result of organised recruitment. The migrant workers came predominantly from the southern shores of the Medi- terranean (Fakiolas, 1992).

CHANGED PERCEPTIONS AT THE EVE OF THE 1990s

The policy of cessation of new labour recruitment pursued by the Western European countries since the mid-seventies started to come increasingly under question towards the end of the eighties. At that time the demographic data confirmed an irreversible trend towards an

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ageing of the populations in both Northern and Southern Europe. Although considerable unemployment persisted, labour market pro- jections indicated that the labour force would start shrinking in the mid- 1990s in some European countries and labour shortages would probably appear in certain sectors by the end of the century (Prognos, 1990).

The greater internationalisation of Europe’s economies, the global- isation of labour markets, the social networks built up over years as a result of former immigration, and the growth of asylum seekers and irregular migration all imply that (West, South and North) Europe can expect a growth in immigration in the future. To respond to this situation, efforts are being undertaken in the various countries to devise policy responses which would allow states to better manage future migration flows. In this context, policy proposals have been mooted in several European states which would establish a ceiling on annual admittances in accordance with priorities decided jointly by governments, employers and trade unions. Immigration quotas were actually included in the new immigration legislation adopted in Italy in 1990 and in Austria in 1992. In Germany and France this concept is being discussed (Mehrlaender, 1992). The reasoning behind the new policy initiatives derives from the view that it will be impossible and unwise to attempt to halt immigration; the aim then should be to control the process and manage it with a view to reducing irregular flows and making the effects of immigration more foreseeable.

NEW TEMPORARY MIGRATION SCHEMES

Several new types of bilateral temporary labour migration agreements which provide for project related employment or temporary training of foreigners surfaced in the late eighties. These agreements were largely in response to the profound political and economic changes in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the number of persons in- volved has been strictly limited and the duration of the migration carefully specified (a maximum of one and a half or two years), the number of workers involved has grown quite rapidly. Germany alone employed more than 100,000 foreign temporary workers in 1992 under bilateral agreements with Central and Eastern European countries. France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries have also signed these types of agreements with Central and Eastern European countries.

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Although first implemented in 1989, an evaluation of the temporary migration programme in terms of satisfactory completion of con- tracts, the efficiency of control mechanisms to ensure the observance of rules and regulations, actual return, and the relevance and transfer of skills and experience gained has not yet been undertaken. Nor do we know if these types of agreements will lead to a certain degree of long-term settlement migration as was previously experienced with temporary recruitment programmes. The fact that rather modest maximum levels are stipulated in the agreements and that the coun- tries of origin are obliged to re-admit their nationals upon completion of their work or training programme, seems to indicate that this new type of bilateral temporary migration arrangement will reduce the risk of temporary immigration leading to permanent settlement as was the experience with the guest-worker programmes of the 1960s.

The success of the programmes will also depend on its benefits to the countries of origin. It is important that the expected amount of remittances do find their way into the banking system of the sending countries and that the skills acquired through the work experience can be productively employed upon return. If these considerations are carefully addressed, these new temporary migration schemes cur- rently experienced may have the potential for becoming a model for other countries.’

As stated in a paper from the Holy See recently submitted to the IOM seminar on “Migration and Development” held in September 1992 in Geneva: “Newly learned skills brought back into the economy of the sending societies; temporary emigration programmes specifically targeted to the need of the economy of the sending country; the concerted avoidance of ‘brain drain’, these and similar measures can make migration a constructive component of develop- ment”. It is to be hoped that this view will gain wide support in the future.

MIGRATION POLICIES AT THE LEVEL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

The treaty of Rome of 1957, which established the European Eco- nomic Community, states in Article 48 the principal of freedom of movement of workers who are nationals of EC member states. It is one of the four freedoms which forms the basis of the EC, the others being free movement of goods, services and capital. Every citizen of an EC

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state has the right to seek and engage in employment and, to this effect, establish residence in a member state other than his own. The treaty does not, however, rule about the recruitment and migration policies being pursued by the individual member states vis-8-vis nationals of third countries. Efforts to harmonise the immigration policies of EC member states have been undertaken recently at the Maastricht Conference in December 1991. However, due to lack of unanimity among the 12 member states to bring immigration policy under the control of the EC, it will remain, for the time being, under the sole jurisdiction of individual member states.

This will apply also to the states joining the European Economic Area (EEA) such as Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Nonetheless, it cannot be ruled out that, in the future, EC and EEA states may harmonise their immigration policies through intergov-

ernmental consultation and co-ordination. The new article K. 1 of the Treaty on European Union of December 1991 (Maastricht Treaty) dealing with co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs, declares that migration policy vis-8-vis nationals of third countries shall be regarded as a matter of common interest. However, at the Maastricht Conference, only asylum policy was declared a priority area for EC co-operation (Declaration on Asylum annexed to the Treaty on European Union, December 1991).

The advantages of migration policy harmonisation for individual states are increasingly being recognised as a means of more effectively combating irregular migration and clandestine employ- ment. This has been reflected in recent years in the various consultations and efforts to co-ordinate procedures dealing with asylum requests. It is thus likely that inter-governmental co-operation in the area of migration policy will be pursued by EC and EEA states in the future.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

1. During the past decades, in particular the 1950s, the 1960s and the early 1970s, various European countries resorted to foreign labour immigration at a time when marked labour shortages had built up. The actual recruitment and employment of foreign labour in European receiving countries took different forms. Four main schemes can be distinguished:

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- foreign labour recruitment on the basis of renewable sea- sonal work contracts or fixed-term contracts with the possi- bility of prolongation over several years;

free movement and employment of workers who are nation- als of EC member states, but temporary employment and residence for third country nationals;

employment of persons originating in former colonies ben- efiting from a special status;

granting temporary migrants the benefits of permanent immigrants.

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2. A common element of the various foreign labour schemes experienced in Europe is that migrants are all enrolled in the social security schemes of the host country.

3. Since the cessation of foreign labour recruitment in 1973/74, a non-recruitment policy has prevailed. However, family reun- ion and asylum migration continues. Since the late 1980s, a new type of temporary migration, limited in numbers and duration, is being experienced under bilateral agreements be- tween Western and Central and Eastern European countries.

4. In countries such as Switzerland, which maintained until the present large-scale seasonal employment schemes and a sys- tem of annually renewable work contracts, it is believed that the growing demand for skilled and highly skilled workers is insufficiently met under these schemes. The introduction of the policy of freedom of movement of workers who are nationals of EC and EEA member states, which would replace this system should Switzerland later join the new European Economic Area (EEA), is expected to lead to a shift from lesser to higher qualified immigrants according to a study commis- sioned by the Swiss government.

5. In various European states, the tendency to create and/or maintain low salary scales for foreigners is being counteracted by measures aimed at reducing such practices. The retarding effect of low wages on structural change is of increasing concern. In Switzerland, proposals have been made for the introduction of compulsory minimum standard work contracts for foreigners.

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6. The expected increase in demand for skilled personnel (in particular specialists and managers) until the end of the 1990s (Prognos, 1990: 4-43), and at the same time the expected decrease in demand for low-level manpower, will have influ- ences on the migration policies of European states. It can be expected that a resumption of large-scale recruitment of low- level manpower from third countries is unlikely. On the other hand, a certain increase in intra-European migration of skilled and highly skilled personnel is to be expected as a consequence of the completion of the internal market in the EC and the creation of the EEA. Otherwise, only strictly limited temporary migration schemes such as frontier worker employment (bor- der commuting), project related employment contracted as services, short-term seasonal work, and temporary on-the-job training are likely to continue in the near future.

7. Immigration policies of the European states will tend to move towards greater harmony with respect to admission criteria and procedures, despite the historical, geographical and economic differences of the various countries. While inter-governmental consultation and the co-ordination of activities are the closest among EC member states, the EEA states which are also concerned by the effects of these activities will become pro- gressively involved in these decisions.

8. The advantages to the EC countries of adopting common policy responses to migration originating in third countries are in- creasingly being recognised. It is felt inter alia that a common policy stand would be more easily defensible v i s -h i s the claims of countries of origin, while migration flows would be more easily managed and illegal migration and employment more readily combated as a result of a common policy.

9. The compromise reached at the EC Maastricht Conference in December 1991 on immigration policy - i.e. that migration policies, apart from the free movement of workers who are nationals of EC states, remain subject to national policy deci- sions - can nonetheless lead, through inter-governmental co-ordination, to a growing harmonisation of the different national policies.

10. The Maastricht decisions imply that, for the time being, EC member countries will continue to conclude bilateral tempo-

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rary migration agreements with non-member countries. How- ever, these may become subject to co-ordination among EC member states in the future.

1 1. A possible scenario for future European migration will be that a certain amount of settlement migration will be allowed on the basis of annual quotas while, at the same time, specific temporary migration schemes, limited in volume, will gain momentum.

REFERENCES

Fakiolas, R. 1992 Migration and Development in the EC Southern Countries.

Paper presented at the IOM Seminar on Migration and Development, Geneva, 15-17 September.

“Sweden”, in Tomas Hammar (Ed.) European Immigration Policy: A Comparative Study, Cambridge University Press, Londonmew York.

“Great Britain”, in Tomas Hammar (Ed.) European Immigration Policy: A Comparative Study, Cambridge University Press, London/New York.

“Switzerland”, in The lmpact of Migration in the Receiving Countries, contribution to a joint CICREDDOM project, International Organization for Migration, Geneva.

Einwanderungs konzept fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Fakten, Arguente, Vorschlaege, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn.

1992 “Evolution of Policy Models for Regulating International Migration”, in Mary M. Kritz, Lin Lean Lim and Hania Zlotnik (Eds) International Migration Systems: A Global Approach, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

SOPEMI: Continuous Reporting System on Migration, 1992, OECD. Paris.

Hammar, T. 1985

Layton-Henry, Z. 1985

Leimgruber, W. 1992

Mehrlaender, U., and G. Schultze 1992

Miller, M. J.

OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1992

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Prognos, A. 1990 “Die Arbeitsmarkte im EG-Binnenmarkt bia zum Jahr 2000”

(The labour market in the EC internal market until the year 2000), Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt-und Berufsforschung der Bundesanstait fur Arbeit, Beitr AB 138.1, Nurnberg.

“The United Kingdom”, in Daniel Kubat (Ed.) The Politics of Migration Policies, Center for Migration Studies, New York.

Rees, T. 1979

NOTES

1. Most European countries do not establish statistics on the foreign born but base them on foreign nationality.

2. In this regard, there may perhaps be, after all, a less negative future for bilateral labour agreements (see Miller, 1992: 3 11). Miller labels the future of bilateral labour agreements “like Lazarus?”

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