Common EU policies on authorised immigration: past, present and future

Since the early 1990s, the metaphor of ‘Fortress Europe’ has dominated the debates on the construction of a common EU immigration policy. While few would disagree with this framework during the initial years of the endeavour, by now it has become over-simplistic and it obscures the full picture of developments in this EU policy area. Since the late 2000s, chiefly on the basis of economic considerations, there has been a clear shift in the dominant approach of the common EU immigration policy towards recognising the need for and value of particular categories of international migrants in Europe. Consequently, the ‘Fortress’ has opened some of its gates to allow and even facilitate entry of non-EU nationals into the EU according to the skills needed in the economies and labour markets of the member states. By contrast, the low-skilled or those who seek international protection still face difficulties in entering. This paper summarises trends in the construction of a common EU policy on authorised immigration and assesses recent developments in EU policy-making activity in this field. Finally, it proposes policy recommendations to be adopted in the immediate future in order to respond to existing issues in the management of immigration in the EU.