REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT REPORT Deliverable D.T1.5.1
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REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT REPORT Deliverable D.T1.5.1 Organisation Eurac Research Authors Cutello Giulia, Weiß Miriam Delivery date March 2019 Status Final Distribution level Public 2 Contents About the PlurAlps project ........................................................................................... 4 Introduction and theoretical background ..................................................................... 5 1. Approach and study area ..................................................................................... 6 1.1. Approach and methodology .......................................................................... 6 1.2. The area of study: pilot areas in the Alpine region ....................................... 7 2. Addressing migrant integration and welcoming services in the EU Alpine Space 8 2.1. Integration in the EU: Overview of the policy framework .............................. 9 2.2. Policy framework on the national level ....................................................... 10 2.3. Overview of regulatory environment at pilot area level ............................... 10 2.3.1. Austria: Bezau, Mellau, Kapfenberg .................................................... 10 2.3.2. Italy: Mals/Malles, St. Ulrich/Ortisei, Nizza Monferrato, Val di Non ..... 13 2.3.3. Slovenia: Jesenice, Kamnik, Postojna ................................................. 17 2.3.4. Switzerland: Engelberg, Zermatt ......................................................... 18 3. Comparative analysis of the regulatory framework ............................................ 20 4. Conclusive remarks ........................................................................................... 21 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 23 Annex I – Regulations on national level .................................................................... 25 Annex II – Timeline of the EU framework for migrant integration .............................. 28 Annex III – Survey tool for regulatory environment analysis ..................................... 29 3 About the PlurAlps project In PlurAlps, partner institutions from across the Alps support organizations and actors at the local level to develop a welcoming culture and engage in social planning. The partner institutions cooperate with municipalities, small and medium-sized enterprises and public authorities in this regard. In this way, PlurAlps considers and responds to the needs of both newcomers and receiving communities in mountain and peripheral municipalities. In the course of 2016-2019, in selected territories of the Alpine Space, welcoming services and strategies have been developed to implement innovative approaches to welcome newcomers with the perspective of a pluralist society, thereby taking into account the regulatory framework shaped on the local, national and European level. 4 Introduction and theoretical background While migration is a historical phenomenon, the role of actors below and above central governments has emerged and strengthened in recent decades (Doomernik & Bruquetas-Callejo 2016). In the last few years, several studies have adopted a multi- level governance approach (MLG), which focuses attention on the relation between different administrative levels. Local and regional level, particularly, become prominent in the field of migrant integration (Zapata-Barrero et al. 2017). This approach suggests that some subnational actors (for example the Länder in Germany) influence, more than others do, the concrete integration of migrants because of their financial power and their proximity to the territories where the actual integration takes place. At the same time, legal and institutional rules, that frame and steer local immigration and integration mechanisms, are de facto established at the regional, national and European level (Penninx 2009, OECD 2018). This new research perspective underlines that local administrations play a crucial role in the development of a welcoming culture, especially when they make up for national shortages through their own initiatives, as asserts the OECD (2018): “While migration policy remains a national responsibility, central and local authorities recognize that integration needs to happen where people are, in their workplaces, in their neighborhoods, and in the schools where they send their children. […] Local authorities, while coordinating with all levels of government and other local partners, play a key role in integrating newcomers and empowering them to contribute to their new communities […] weaknesses often stem from the lack of coordination among policies across different sectors (such as labor, health, housing and education), as well as across levels of government”. OECD – Working Together for Local Integration of Migrants and Refugee, 2018 If before the studies on the integration of newcomers at the local level have focused on urban contexts and larger agglomerations (Pastore & Ponzo 2016), recent interest of studies focuses on small municipalities (Balbo 2015). Understanding this “local turn” through an analysis of the legal framework on integration can contribute to improving state-based models of migration management (Zapata-Barrero et al. 2017). It can be argued that integration is a challenge that concerns everyone and starts mainly from the bottom up (Villa 2018). Within this framework, the present study takes a cross-national perspective to show the regulatory environment, which affects the establishment of a welcoming culture in Alpine regions. A better understanding of the differences in the regulatory framework in Alpine regions can clarify the role of each level of government about the issue of integration and consequently support developing services able to speed up the process of integration in the receiving communities (Weiß et al. 2017). This report investigates how the regulatory and institutional framework looks like that offers efficient solutions or approaches and allows territorial actors to take action for welcoming newcomers. The following questions guide the analysis: • Which regional laws or directives are dedicated to welcoming/receiving migrants? Of these, which refer to municipalities? • Who on the state, regional or municipal level has room for maneuver? • How does the legal framework influence the implementation of the newly established/tested services/offers in the pilot areas? After an initial overview of the approach and methodology applied to investigate the regulatory framework of the PlurAlps pilot territories, the report introduces the area of 5 study, i. e. the Alpine Space Programme region. Then, an overview of the regulatory framework on integration on European, national and local (pilot area) level is given. Chapter 3 presents a comparison of the regulatory frameworks, identifying factors of success, responsibilities, and modalities – normative and not – that affect the establishment of welcoming services. Finally, concluding remarks ensue. 1. Approach and study area 1.1. Approach and methodology A case-based comparative policy analysis approach was applied to systematically assess the regulatory environment for welcoming and integrating newcomers in the pilot areas and across countries (Meltsner 1976, Weimer & Vining 1999). This was done to describe and explain how the regulatory framework influences and shapes what municipalities/regions can do to welcome/integrate newcomers (Howlett & Ramesh 2003). This method helps to bring out similarities and differences in the regulatory framework of five countries (AT, DE, CH, IT, SI) and allows for a deeper insight into the regulatory context of sectoral policies related to integration (Ragin 1987). This is expected to uncover which regulatory environment is more favorable to establishing welcoming services. Generally, policies are a result of government decisions and there exist different ways to understand how policies come into force, how governmental decisions alter policies and vice versa (Howlett M & Ramesh 2003). In PlurAlps, the focus is thereby more on the policy outputs that is the “practical” side of policy issues and less on the policy-making process (Howlett & Ramesh 2003). In view of the complexity and difficulty to study public policy as asserted by Howlett and Ramesh (2003), for the purpose of the PlurAlps project, the following documents were collected for a comparative analysis of integration policy in the pilot areas: • Key legislation on integration at the local level • Non-binding regulatory acts/instruments • Financial instruments • Integration plan at the local level In detail, the following aspects of the documents were examined: • Main contents • Innovative aspects • Objectives and topics related to welcoming culture and integration of migrants • Definition of integration and migrant/newcomer used in the documents • Involvement, responsibilities, liabilities of persons/institutions in welcoming and integrating migrants • Priorities for integration set by the PlurAlps pilot territories • Effect/impact of the regulatory environment on carrying out the PlurAlps pilot activities 6 Key topics considered were: • Employment • Housing • Training & education • Healthcare • Political-legal participation • Measures related to cultural integration The data was collected by means of a policy analysis tool (see Annex III – Survey tool for regulatory environment analysis) elaborated by Eurac Research that the PlurAlps project partners were responsible