Annual Policy Report 2008 produced by the European Migration Network March 2011 The purpose of EMN Annual Policy Reports is to provide an overview into the most significant political and legislative (including EU) developments, as well as public debates, in the area of asylum and migration, with the focus on third-country nationals rather than EU nationals. This EMN Synthesis Report summarises the main findings of National Reports produced by twenty-three of the EMN National Contact Points (EMN NCPs) from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The EMN Synthesis Report, as well as the twenty-three National Reports upon which the synthesis is based, may be downloaded from http://emn.intrasoft- intl.com/Downloads/prepareShowFiles.do;?entryTitle=02. Annual Policy Report 2008 Several of the National Reports are also available in the Member States‟ national language, as well as in English. EMN Synthesis Report – Annual Policy Report 2008 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Methodology followed ........................................................................................ 7 2. POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS ........................................ 9 2.1 General political developments ............................................................................ 9 2.2 General institutional developments ...................................................................... 9 3. POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AREA OF MIGRATION AND ASYLUM .....................................................................................16 3.1 General structure of the legal system in the area of migration and asylum...........16 3.2 General overview of main policy and/or legislative debates ................................18 3.2.1 Legal Migration ......................................................................................18 3.2.2 Judicial Redress ......................................................................................20 3.2.3 Naturalisation and Citizenship ................................................................20 3.2.4 Illegal Immigration .................................................................................21 3.2.5 Actions against human trafficking ...........................................................21 3.2.6 Asylum ....................................................................................................21 3.2.7 Border Control .......................................................................................23 3.2.8 Return Migration ....................................................................................24 3.3 Presidency of the European Union ......................................................................24 4. SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTS IN ASYLUM AND MIGRATION ............................27 4.1 Control and Monitoring of Immigration ..............................................................27 4.1.1 Fight against fraudulent claims and/or practices ....................................27 4.1.2 Electronic monitoring systems and related fees .......................................28 4.1.3 Identity documents and screening............................................................29 4.1.4 Accession to the Schengen area ...............................................................30 4.1.5 Border controls .......................................................................................30 4.1.6 Changes to border guard structure and/or responsibilities ......................31 4.1.7 Cross-border cooperation .......................................................................32 4.1.8 Other cooperation agreements ................................................................32 4.1.9 Visa ........................................................................................................33 4.2 Refugee Protection and Asylum .........................................................................34 4.2.1 Legislative and/or policy developments ...................................................34 4.2.2 Resettlement ............................................................................................38 4.2.3 Particular pressures ................................................................................38 4.2.4 Other developments in relation to international protection ......................39 4.3 Unaccompanied Minors and other vulnerable groups ..........................................41 4.3.1 Unaccompanied Minors ..........................................................................41 4.3.2 Other Vulnerable Groups ........................................................................45 4.4 Economic Migration ...........................................................................................47 4.4.1 Legislative changes to the regulation of economic migration...................47 4.4.2 Work permits ..........................................................................................49 4.4.3 Use of migrant labour to satisfy labour demand ......................................50 4.4.4 Highly-skilled workers ............................................................................52 4.4.5 Low-skilled and other categories of workers ...........................................54 4.4.6 Effects of the economic crisis ..................................................................54 4.5 Family Reunification ..........................................................................................55 4.5.1 Simplification and development of conditions for family reunification .....55 2 of 103 EMN Synthesis Report – Annual Policy Report 2008 4.5.2 Data and Trends concerning family reunification ....................................57 4.6 Other legal migration ..........................................................................................58 4.6.1 Changes in legislation in relation to students and voluntary workers ......58 4.6.2 Changes in legislation in relation to researchers.....................................60 4.6.3 Other types of legal migration .................................................................61 4.6.4 Statistical data on legal migration...........................................................62 4.7 Integration ..........................................................................................................63 4.7.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments .............................................63 4.7.2 Member State programmes and strategies ...............................................65 4.7.3 Language Requirements for Integration ..................................................67 4.7.4 Migrant Integration in national labour markets ......................................68 4.7.5 Equal Treatment for the purpose of integration .......................................69 4.8 Citizenship and Naturalisation ............................................................................69 4.8.1 Legislative and Institutional developments ..............................................70 4.8.2 Campaigns and Programmes developing naturalisation and citizenship policies ...................................................................................................72 4.8.3 Cases of naturalisation and citizenship in 2008 .......................................72 4.9 Illegal Immigration .............................................................................................73 4.9.1 Data and Trends on Illegal immigration .................................................74 4.9.2 Regularisation procedures ......................................................................75 4.9.3 Control and prevention of Illegal Immigration ........................................76 4.9.4 Removal of illegally staying third-country nationals................................78 4.10 Actions against human trafficking ......................................................................79 4.10.1 Legislative and other developments .........................................................79 4.10.2 Data on the extent of human trafficking in Member States .......................81 4.11 Return Migration ................................................................................................82 4.11.1 Forced Return .........................................................................................82 4.11.2 Assisted Voluntary Return .......................................................................83 4.11.3 Readmission agreements with third-countries .........................................84 4.12 Other Policy areas/topics ....................................................................................85 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LEGISLATION ..........................................................88 5.1 Adopted EU Legislation 2008 ............................................................................88 5.1.1 Asylum ....................................................................................................88 5.1.2 External Borders .....................................................................................88 5.1.3 Visas .......................................................................................................89 5.1.4 Immigration ............................................................................................90