on the repercussions of the completion of the single market of 1992 for migrant workers from developing countries

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its resolution of 14 June 1990 on migrant workers from third countriesOJ No. C 175, 16.7.1990, p. 180,

-having regard to the resolutions adopted by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly on the effects of the Single Market on ACP States and on immigrant rightsOJ No. C 218, 3.9.1990, p. 21, OJ No. C 27, 4.2.1991, p. 50 and AP/407/Ann.14, 20.3.1991

,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A3-0393/91),

1.Stresses firmly that all migrant workers and students in the Community originating from developing countries should be guaranteed treatment on the professional, social and cultural levels characterized by the absence of all forms of discrimination based on nationality vis-à-vis Community citizens and migrants in the Community;

2.Recalls that this principle of non-discrimination is explicitly laid down both in the context of ACP-EEC cooperation, namely in Article 5 and Annex VI of the Lomé Convention, and in the context of the cooperation agreements concluded with the Maghreb and Mashreq countries;

3.Stresses that this principle of non-discrimination concerning migrant workers and students originating in third countries is consistent with Community policy concerning protection of and respect for human rights, which, by reason of its nature, cannot admit of any exception based on the origin and/or social status of the persons concerned;

4.Deplores the fact that the Community has to date failed to take sufficient account of the various problems concerning migrants and migration flows, present or potential, in the context of its development policy and with regard to cooperation with the ACP countries, the Maghreb and Mashreq countries and the countries of Latin America and Asia;

5.Draws attention, in this context, to the likely growth of immigration from the countries of Eastern Europe, which will create an element of competition on the Community labour market vis-à-vis migrants originating in the developing countries;

6.Regrets, in particular, that no action has yet been taken to implement the provisions concerning cooperation in the area of labour included in the cooperation agreements concluded since 1977 between the EEC and the Maghreb countries;

7.Draws attention to the introduction, in the 1991 Community budget, of a new item concerning the establishment of an 'observatory' to monitor migration flows in the Mediterranean basin, and awaits with interest the Commission's proposals for the effective implementation of this measure;

8.Stresses the notable lack of accurate statistical information at Community level concerning movements of migrants originating in the developing countries and the evolution of such movements; considers it essential that comprehensive information on the subject should be made available at Community level as a matter of urgency ;

9.Considers it essential that the EEC, in the context of the completion of the single market of 1993 and with a view to guaranteeing the practical application of the principle of non-discrimination concerning migrant workers and students, as affirmed above, should implement a jointly agreed policy concerning migration flows with the various developing countries concerned by the phenomenon;

10.Urges and endorses the principle that all the measures referred to in paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 should involve the participation of experts originating in the countries concerned, who may be resident in the Community or not;

11.Considers, in particular, that the Community should give its support to the definition, on the request of the countries concerned, of national migration policies, given that this is expressly provided for, in the context of ACP-EEC relations, in Annex VI of the Fourth Lomé Convention;

12.Considers it essential that all questions concerning policy in respect of immigrants originating in third countries, especially in developing countries, both in its internal Community aspect and its external aspect (which pertains to the Community's development policy), should henceforth be dealt with at Community level in the context of the reform of the Treaty on the basis of policies defined by the Community;

13.Considers that a Community policy for migration from third countries should include:

(a)a Community legal statute for migrants, setting out their cultural, civic, social and political rights and their responsibilities;

(b)measures for the integration of this statute and the rights and responsibilities set out therein into the new system based on the free movement of persons, services and goods which will operate in the EEC as from 1993;

(c)regularization, on the basis of the above statute, of the individual positions of all migrants from third countries, in accordance with their past histories;

(d)an intergovernmental agreement on fair and reasonable criteria for granting nationality of Community Member States;

(e)on the basis of the above-mentioned Community statute for migrants, administrative and legal treatment in accordance with the Community provisions concerning human rights, action against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism and the principles of equality between the sexes;

14.Stresses that the essential role which the Community should seek to play in this area, together with its third world partners, is to ensure freedom for all to live and work in their countries of origin, and that, in this context, the Community has a fundamental role to fulfil in the context of its cooperation and development policy and via the implementation of its various instruments;

15.Stresses that human rights are indivisible, that large numbers of people are effectively deprived of their essential rights by hunger, illiteracy and extreme poverty, and are thus obliged to leave their countries of origin; and considers that respect for civil and political rights is an essential condition for sustained and harmonious economic and social development, and that failure to guarantee such rights is also a major cause of migration;

16.Urges the Community to promote, on a consistent basis in its intervention in the field of development cooperation, the introduction of democratic processes and respect for human rights, in particular via specific and additional forms of aid;

17.Welcomes, in this connection, the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 25 March 1991 on human rights, democracy and development cooperation policy (SEC (91) 0061);

18.Draws attention to the important resolution on democracy and development adopted on 27 September 1991 by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, stressing the link between respect for civil and political rights and sustained economic and social development;

19.Stresses the need to take account of the considerable potential importance, for certain developing countries, of the phenomenon of migration to the EEC:

(a)in economic and social terms, given that migration has a certain regulatory affect on population pressure and local employment, and can also involve the provision of directly job-related vocational training;

(b)in financial terms, since migration makes possible financial transfers which may correspond to a substantial proportion of export receipts;

20.Emphasises that, in certain fields of activity, migration represents a 'brain-drain' which is not in the interests of the development of the countries concerned;

21.Stresses the importance of promoting training, especially at university level, on the basis of specific exchange programmes for students and staff and of increased aid for training in the migrants' countries of origin;

22.Stresses, in this respect, the encouraging results achieved in the context of ACP-EEC cooperation by the programme for the reintegration of qualified citizens of African countries, in particular via the 'Migration for development' programmes of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); calls on the Commission to examine possible means of extending this type of action if requested by the countries concerned and of making it more systematic, in the context of its overall relations with developing countries and in close cooperation with the IOM;

23.Considers that the Community can contribute to the reduction of tensions associated with migration by the systematic encouragement, in the overall context of its development policy, of labour-intensive development projects;

24.Stresses, in particular, that, in the context of ACP-EEC cooperation, the effective implementation of the new provisions of the Fourth Lomé Convention concerning enterprise development and the development of services could contribute, directly and effectively, to the growth of local employment and, consequently, to the reduction of potential migration;

25.Points out that migration frequently takes the initial form of an exodus from the countryside to the big cities, and subsequently, in view of the lack of jobs in the cities, movement from those cities to the industrialized countries of the North; calls for reinforcement, in parallel with a policy of agricultural and rural development aid, of aids to job creation in the big cities, to be channelled especially to the informal sector, which, in many cases, represents a considerable source of potential employment;

26.Considers that the Community should, at regional level, give systematic encouragement - with regard to both ACP-EEC relations and to the countries of the Mediterranean and Latin America and Asia - to the definition and implementation of regional cooperation policies taking full account of the potentialities and problems related to training, employment and intra-regional migration;

27.Stresses that the resolution of tensions related to migration will in many cases require the definition and implementation of population policies by the developing countries concerned; stresses that the Fourth Lomé Convention has expressly included this question within the area of ACP-EEC cooperation; and considers that the Community must be willing to provide aid in this connection to any developing country which should request it;

28.Considers that the definition and implementation of a renewed Mediterranean policy, and of new links with the developing countries of Latin America and Asia, on the basis of substantially increased funding, should enable the Community to take fuller account of migration-related questions in its relations with those countries, with regard to the three main aspects referred to above, i.e.:

-the implementation of specific actions to assist migrants;

-the reinforcement of aid to encourage local employment;

-further action on population;

29.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Governments of the Member States.