IES Lecture Series: "Integration Policies for Europe: A Common Agenda"

Commission expert on migrant integration Dr. Iwona Piorko at IES lecture series

IES Lecture Series on European Identity: "Integration Policies for Europe: A Common Agenda." Lecture by Dr. Iwona Piorko, DG Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission. Aula E.0.04.

The fourth presentation in IES’ Spring lecture series was delivered by Dr. Iwona Piorko from the Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security. Dr. Piorko is the official responsible for migrant integration issues which is at the centre of an intense debate at national, EU and a wider international level. She was able to give her audience the inside story of how the Commission is helping to tackle this major component of citizenship and identity. 

She began by giving an historical overview of how this policy area has developed in the EU institutions in spite of a weak legal base. Even now after the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (article 63(3)), the Commission can only act in an advisory capacity. Nevertheless, a valuable body of agreed principle and good practice has been built up over the last seven years. The  agreed Common Basic Principles (CBP) and The Handbook on Integration which is going into its second edition in the coming months are the embodiment of what has been achieved. The CBP of which there are eleven main ones cover a variety of actions which are recommended – and indeed largely followed – by the EU Member States including, definitions, processes and rights relating to immigrants. Iwona Piorko mentioned the main principles such as “mainstreaming” (incorporating migration issues into all major policy areas such as education, development etc), cultural sensitivity, respect for diversity and above all that integration into the host society is a two way process involving both the migrants themselves and the host society.

The Commission has also initiated a system of National Contact Points for exchanges of view and practice. This acts as a sort of “hot line” on current problems and also looks at solutions found in different Member States and elsewhere. In addition, the Commission has set up a website which acts as a “one stop shop” for integration issues. Dr. Piorko was, however, sure in her views that there is no one set formula for success in this policy area and even countries built on immigration, such as the US and Canada, are finding that they sometimes go wrong.

Because so many integration questions concern cities, a platform for dialogue amongst those involved with migrants in cities was established largely on the initiative of the Dutch government. The first such dialogue took place in Rotterdam in October 2006 (at which Senior Research Fellow Richard Lewis was an invited speaker) and there will be a further meeting in Milan in the autumn of this year.

Dr. Piorko also described the intercultural dialogue which has been established largely to assist the integration of Muslim communities including many people who are already citizens of EU states and should be well integrated but often are not. This can cover a range of cultural sensitivity issues involving practical everyday life such as hospital practices, the provision of cemeteries for the different religions and the spill-over into external relations (for example the bilateral agreements in some Member States to bring in imams form third countries.)

Finally, Dr. Piorko gave an insider’s round-up of the direction of future policies on immigration and asylum in DG Justice Freedom and Security  including the allocations in the financial perspectives, and the forthcoming conference on integration in Potsdam (particularly aimed at defusing negative images of migration in the media) under the German Presidency. Her overall view is that the Commission has made its mark in this policy area in spite of the weak legal basis and the fact that Member States ask more and more of her institution but at the same time withhold the authority to act.

Richard Lewis would particularly like to thank Iwona for a valuable contribution to the discourse. She is one of the busiest officials in a very busy Directorate General and yet took the time to come to IES.