Immigration is one of the most contentious policy matters currently facing the EU. In this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’ Bruegel director Guntram Wolff welcomes Ana Palacio, member of the Spanish council of state and former foreign affairs minister, as well as Bruegel visiting fellow Elina Ribakova for a constructive discussion as to which approaches will yield the best results. Joining Bruegel director Guntram Wolff for this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’ is Ana Palacio, member of the Spanish council of state and former foreign affairs minister, and Elina Ribakova, Bruegel visiting fellow at Bruegel, to discuss the exact nature of the migration challenges currently troubling the EU. Previous agreement upon the creation of disembarkation centres on the north African coast constitutes only a policy step rather than a resolution. Still very little has been done to draw up a common European migration policy and consensus remains difficult while Member States continue to operate their own independent, broadly disparate policies. Separating the concept of migration and refugees is also key to improving the general understanding of the challenges; likewise, being clear that the number of arrivals in the EU is now significantly lower than in 2015. There is also progress to be made in accepting that integration is a two-way street, and that legitimate concerns should not be written off without a hearing. For further reading, consider the Bruegel Blueprint publication ‘People on the move: migration and mobility in the European Union’, which contains a wealth of research on the various challenges that immigration poses to Europe’s policymakers. Also recommended is this blog post by Zsolt Darvas which illustrates that Europe’s population growth would now be negative if it were not for the inflow of immigrants.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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