Brussels, 16/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Between December 2015 and January 2016, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) undertook 11 fact-finding visits to the countries most affected by the refugee crisis. On Wednesday 16 March, it published a report containing 16 key messages for European decision makers.
In order to identify the problems and needs of the countries that had felt the brunt of the waves of migrants, EESC delegations visited Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden, along with Turkey (the report on which in not yet available, however), over the two-month period. They held meetings with 200 non-governmental organisations.
The added value of this reports, according to EESC President Georges Dassis, resides in the fact that the solutions proposed come directly from observations on the ground and provide genuine avenues to be explored in defining policies. EESC Vice-President Gonçalo Lobo Xavier added that the civil society organisations had been listened to and the report would pass on their points of view.
One point in particular sticks out from the 16 key messages: integration. Lobo Xavier stressed that “investing in integration today will bear fruit in the long term”. By integration the EESC understands learning the language of the country, recognising qualifications, a system of social protection, decent wages, etc.
Anne Demelenne, a member of the EESC employees group, said that the public's fears about the financial cost of taking in refugees was understandable but that many studies had proved that, “initially, refugees represent a cost but, thereafter, these costs turn into something that benefits everyone: a rise in tax revenue and a way of addressing the demographic problem of an ageing population”. Ultimately, successful integration is “a real opportunity for Europe to meet the new challenges facing it”, she argued.
Dassis, however, highlighted a serious problem of coordination at EU level in dealing with the migrant crisis. “The procedures exist but they are not being correctly implemented and must be improved”, he stressed. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion, stag)