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Resolution 1767 (2010)1
The
demographic future of Europe and migration

1. The global population is currently
predicted to grow by over 40% over the next forty years unless
fertility rates in the developing world decrease considerably.
In the same period, the population of the member states of the
Council of Europe is expected to drop by about 6%, so reducing
Europe’s share of the world’s population to 7%. In addition,
Europe’s demographic make-up is going through dramatic
changes. These trends will bring new challenges for Europe in
terms of competitiveness on the global market and the
viability of its existing social security systems.

2. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls its two
recent debates on policy measures that influence population
trends and on the demographic challenges for social cohesion.
It reasserts its support for the recommendations adopted after
these debates (Recommendation 1683 (2004) on population trends
in Europe and their sensitivity to policy measures, and
Recommendation 1749 (2006) and
Resolution 1502 (2006) on demographic challenges for
social cohesion).

3. The Assembly regrets the discontinuation
of the valuable work previously carried out by the European
Population Committee. It remains convinced that population-
and migration-related issues merit continued intergovernmental
attention by the Council of Europe.

4. Population decline, ageing of the
population and migration are closely interlinked and need to
be looked at together, to assess the future of Europe’s
population as well as its productivity needs. Fertility,
ageing and migration need to be managed through comprehensive
policies that are capable of adapting to new demographic
realities.

5. The most essential question for European
population management today is how to achieve an increase in
both fertility and domestic labour force participation, with a
view to boosting Europe’s productivity and maintaining the
efficiency of social protection systems, especially retirement
systems. The Assembly believes that European policy makers,
businesses and citizens need to combine their efforts to
rethink the organisation of the entire life-course perspective
of work, parenthood and retirement.

6. Increased immigration is another way to
help mitigate the effects of the falling population in the
medium term. Currently immigration is the principal reason for
positive population growth in several European countries and
immigration needs are projected to grow once the economy
recovers. Nevertheless, the Assembly is convinced that
immigration will not be an adequate instrument on its own –
nor is it a desirable policy option – to compensate for
population “greying”, and it is no substitute for economic
reforms.

7. The Assembly believes that, whereas
migration has brought diversity and dynamism to European
societies, future movements need to be better managed. These
need to be linked to specific demands of the economy, based on
a realistic assessment of labour-market needs, as well as
implementation procedures to ensure that migration continues
to meet these demands while respecting developing needs of
countries of origin.

8. The main challenges to realising the
potential of immigration are linked to irregular migration and
the integration of migrants and their descendants into
European societies. Both are linked to human rights issues, as
well as to a danger for European societies of the emergence of
a new underclass. Therefore, the Assembly sees targeted
migration and opportunities for legal employment as the
desired direction for managing migration in the future.

9. The Assembly is convinced that, whereas
temporary and circular migration programmes bring more
benefits for the countries of origin, as they reduce the
impact of the brain drain, maximise remittances and encourage
knowledge and technology transfers, many labour needs in the
Council of Europe member states will be long term in nature,
with job-specific skills that take time to acquire.
Demographic and migration-related issues would therefore need
to be looked at from both mid- and long-term perspectives.

10. In the light of the above, the Assembly
urges member states to combine the following broad policy
measures, if they have not already done so:

10.1. with regard to increasing birth
rates:

10.1.1. enable individuals and couples to
exercise their right to decide freely and responsibly the
number of their children and the interval between them;

10.1.2. make it easier for women to combine
family and professional life, namely through availability of
child care, flexible working hours, teleworking, paternal
leave, etc.;

10.1.3. make it easier for young people to
start work and found families, for example by promoting a more
child- and family-friendly environment in all spheres of
society, particularly in urban areas, including housing,
child-care programmes, part-time and flexi-time work, fiscal
policies and recreational facilities;

10.1.4. develop public-health measures aimed
at reducing involuntary infertility;

10.2. with regard to population ageing and
with a view to increased labour force participation:

10.2.1. facilitate legal employment through
such measures as reducing the cost of employment, liberalising
labour codes and removing unnecessary costs linked to
termination of employment;

10.2.2. further encourage employment of women
through incentives that facilitate combining family and
professional life;

10.2.3. introduce necessary legislative
changes to gradually increase the retirement age;

10.2.4. promote active ageing by giving those
who are still in good health and willing to work the chance to
work longer, and by focusing more on the number of years
worked rather than age for retirement;

10.2.5. devise a wide range of policies to
enable people to work longer in healthy conditions, including
by promoting possibilities for lifelong training and
retraining;

10.2.6. develop atypical forms of employment
for those who cannot or do not want to work full-time;

10.3. with regard to migration:

10.3.1. put in place mechanisms to identify
and monitor domestic labour shortages at national level and
keep legal avenues open for the entry of immigrants to satisfy
these shortages;

10.3.2. communicate publicly the need for
continued and possibly even increased immigration across the
full range of skilled and unskilled labour, while at the same
time ensuring that appropriate policies for the management of
migration and integration of immigrants are in place; in
particular, develop strategies for attracting migrants with
the sought-after profile;

10.3.3. in countries of net emigration,
capitalise on the domestic sources of labour and retain top
talent by improving academic excellence, introducing salary
incentives and possibilities for training and retraining;

10.3.4. develop official means of recruiting
migrants so as to reduce the incentive for employers to hire
them through the informal labour market, and to prevent
trafficking and exploitation of migrants; consider introducing
job-search visas as an appropriate recruitment avenue for
certain profiles;

10.3.5. look for opportunities to redirect
irregular migration and illegal employment into legal
channels. Such a system needs to apply to all skill levels, be
long term in nature and incorporate incentives for both
employers and immigrants to follow the rules;

10.3.6. foster successful integration of
migrants and their families, in particular those coming from
non-European countries, into their new European host
societies; in particular, address the issues of education
among immigrants and their children, remedy the problems
associated with their geographical concentration and social
isolation and help second-generation immigrants to overcome
the difficulties they face in entering the labour market;

10.3.7. pay greater attention to having a
balanced public debate on immigration that avoids language
that justifies or even reinforces discriminatory attitudes
against migrants.

11. The Assembly notes that many of these
measures are already part of the European Union agenda. It
commends the latter for its recently adopted Stockholm
Programme and Action Plan, which recognise the valuable role
that immigration plays in addressing the Union’s demographic
challenges and in securing the European Union’s strong
economic performance over the long term. Considering that
European Union policies have a great impact on candidate
countries or non-European Union member states of the Council
of Europe, the Assembly further encourages the European Union
to:

11.1. aim to introduce a genuinely unified
admission system for migrants by re-examining the idea of the
“Blue Card” system initially proposed in 2001;

11.2. carry out an in-depth study of Europe’s
labour needs in the short, medium and long term;

11.3. further develop mobility partnerships
with relevant member states of the Council of Europe through
the Eastern Partnership Programme;

11.4. consider, as a matter of utmost
urgency, options for the regularisation of the situation of
the millions of irregular migrants who are employed in
underemployed sectors.

12. The Assembly also calls on the
specialised international organisations to carry out further
studies that would incorporate comprehensive data on
demographic and migration trends in Europe. Such data will
help counteract populist or xenophobic reactions, and help
governments to take a more realistic and comprehensive
approach when defining national policies.

1. Text adopted by the
Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on
12 November 2010 (see Doc.
12429, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mrs Hajibayli).

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