New EU policy orientations for "Maximising the Development Impact of Migration”

The second UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development (UN HLD) will take place on 3-4 October 2013 with a focus on “Identifying concrete measures to strengthen coherence and cooperation at all levels, with a view to enhancing the benefits of international migration for migrants and countries alike and its important links to development, while reducing its negative implications”.

At EU level, maximising the positive impact of migration on development is an important policy priority benefiting from a EU dual policy framework. Migration and development is one of the four pillars of the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM), as revised in 2011, which provides the overarching framework for the EU external migration policy. Migration is also a specific priority in the 2011 EU Agenda for Change, which outlines the EU development policy framework. In addition, implementing the migration and development agenda is part of EU efforts to ensure Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), for which migration is recognised as a priority area since 2009.

Within this context, the Commission adopted in May 2013 a Communication on “Maximising the Development Impact of Migration” with a twofold purpose:

-Provide the basis for a common position of the EU and its Member States at the UN HLD; and

-Propose orientations on next steps for broadening the development-migration nexus, in line with orientations already suggested in its Communication on the GAMM, the accompanying Staff Working Document on Migration and Development and the subsequent Council Conclusions.

The Council welcomed the document in its September 2013 Conclusions and the EU is now equipped with a common position in view of the UN HLD. Central to this position is the acknowledgement that migration is a key dimension of global population dynamics as well as a “powerful vehicle for boosting development”. As such, it should be considered as an enabler for inclusive and sustainable growth and a key element of global population dynamics in preparing the post-2015 global development agenda.

The orientations put forward in the Communication also significantly strengthen and broaden the EU policy framework on migration and development, which traditionally focused on a limited number of issues, including remittances, diaspora, brain drain and circular migration, with priority attached to migration towards OECD countries, rather than migration between low- and middle-income countries.

In particular, the revised EU policy framework encompasses a much broader set of movements than was previously the case:

-Acknowledging the significance of South-South movements, the new framework calls for extending action in the “traditional” migration and development areas, such as remittances and diaspora, in the South-South context. Mobility (short-term visits of business people, workers, students, tourists, people visiting their families, etc.) and internal migration within developing countries are also considered, including the inter-linkages between internal and international mobility, urbanisation and development;

-       The understanding of the development-migration nexus is extended to explicitly include refugees and other forced migrants, the large majority of whom live in developing countries, often in protracted situations. Forced migration does not only represent a challenge; It can also result in development opportunities that can potentially be harnessed, and as such also needs to be addressed from a development perspective;

-Finally, particular attention is devoted to inter-linkages between climate change, environmental degradation and migration, in a line with the April 2013 EC Staff Working Document. Evidence suggests that environmental factors will assume greater importance as drivers of migration and mobility in the future, with most induced movements taking place within or between developing countries. Priorities include climate change adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as means to reduce displacement as well as the potential of migration as a strategy in its own right to strengthen adaptation and DRR.

The impacts of migration and mobility on progress towards sustainable economic, social and environmental development are complex and can bring both opportunities and challenges. Effective policy coherence and sound migration governance are therefore essential to maximise positive impacts while reducing negative implications. The EU is committed to step-up its support in two key areas:

-Mainstreaming migration into development strategies, for instance by supporting the use of “Extended Migration Profiles” as tools to better understand the multidimensional development impacts of migration and support targeted policy action. The EU will also step-up its own efforts to integrate the migration dimension into its development initiatives in other sectors (employment, health, education, human rights, trade, agriculture, environment, etc.) wherever relevant;

-Strengthening migration governance and cooperation in and between developing countries, in particular at regional level, to improve development outcomes for countries of origin, transit and destination. This includes capacity building in all relevant areas (protecting migrants’ human rights, integration, labour migration systems, asylum and international protection, tackling human smuggling and trafficking, Integrated Border Management, etc.).

Finally, the Communication and Council Conclusions both reaffirm the GAMM commitment to promote a migrant-centred approach as a crosscutting policy priority, in full respect of migrants’ rights and in support of their crucial role as development actors.