CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ MIGRANT INTEGRATION AS A NEW EU AGENDA basic assumption that cultural diversity as a result of migration has to be actively promoted remains unchanged. We do not mean to imply that those goals are illegitimate. However, it is questionable whether the EU integration policy is the proper tool to impose a common concept of cultural diversity and multicultural societies on EU Member States that have very different experiences concerning ethnic and religious diversity. In this sense we can say that the EU concept of migrant integration does not only serve as a vehicle for the distribution of public funds, but it also may too easily turn into a vehicle for ideology. EU competences within the integration agenda As for the delimitation of competences between the EU and its member states, we have to distinguish between different areas of migrant integration. The EU may influence the integration process most significantly by its measures concerning the admission of third- country nationals to the EU. 14 The more liberal the regime for external border controls, asylum and immigration is, the higher will be the number of those who arrive to the Member States and need to be integrated into the host societies. So, how many third-country nationals will be admitted and granted residence on the territory of member states partly depends on EU legislation and its practical application. We may take the examples of the EU family reunification directive, 15 the Dublin regulation, 16 the relocation decisions, 17 and the qualification directive. 18 To put it briefly, in the context of integration, numbers matter. Therefore, it is no big surprise that a country like Austria, which during the crisis of 2015 admitted to its territory one of the highest numbers of refugees and migrants in Europe, later introduced an upper limit for asylum seekers into its national asylum law. 19 Also in some other fields of migrant integration, the EU disposes of specific competences and, for example, it may adopt legislation in the fields of social policy and employment. Although social policy is mainly conceived as a Member State competence, according to Article 153, paragraph 1, point g) TFEU the EU shall support and complement the activities of Member States, as far as conditions of employment for third-country nationals legally residing in Union territory are concerned. Article 153, paragraph 2 TFEU stipulates that 14 Already in 2005, the Commission proposed a consolidated legal Framework as an important part of a common European approach towards integration. See the Communication from the European Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions: A Common Agenda for Integration – Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union, COM(2005) 389 final. 15 Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification. 16 Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person. 17 Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 of 14 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and of Greece and Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601 of 22 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece. 18 Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted. 19 BGBl. I Nr. 24/2016. 3.

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