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This article examines the immigration policies and measures in Italy, Germany, Greece, Poland, and Spain. It discusses long-term residence, access to nationality, and anti-discrimination laws in each country.
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Measures of immigration The measures of immigration in Italy, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain
Italy • Italy’s new policies, especially the Security Law, made conditions in the country slightly less favourable for integration. Immigrants are presented as responsible for general social problems, with debatable statistics and without evaluations of policies’ impact on integration.
Long term residence • The Security Act follows trends in imposing language and integration conditions for long-term residence. Non-EU residents who can become long-term residents should be slightly secure in their status and treated equally like Italians in many areas of life, as required in EU law.
Access tonationality • Italian-born children of migrants can only declare themselves Italian after 18 years with legal registration and uninterrupted residence. • As Italy changed from a country of emigration to immigration, its citizenship policy fell behind European trends. Eligibility criteria are far more restrictive than nearly all major countries of immigration, as well as most of Western and Southern Europe.
Anti-discrimination • Italy gave its residents full protection against discrimination following threats from the European Commission to take legal action. • Thanks to EU law, victims of ethnic, racial, religious and nationality discrimination can use new concepts and slightly favourable mechanisms to enforce their rights in all areas of life.
Germany • In this major country of immigration and emigration, immigration and asylum have long declined since 1995. Newcomers’ integration policies little improved in 3 years, but are halfway favourable, and comparable to other major immigration countries.
Long term residence • Around 10 points below average, Germany withholds long-term residence permits from newcomers who cannot meet conditions that are as demanding as for full citizenship.
Access tonationality • Since 1999, permanent residents have clear citizenship paths as in many major and reforming immigration countries: first generation by entitlement and second generation by birth.
Anti-discrimination • Germany's laws may be ineffective against discrimination because potential victims do not get the support they need from weak equality bodies and State commitments. • Racial, ethnic and religious discrimination is prohibited in most areas of life, and nationality discrimination in some.
Greece • Despite the crisis, the population and workforce kept growing with more immigrants and asylum seekers, as Greece becomes one of Europe's major countries of transit and destination, partly due to EU policies.
Long term residence • Successful candidates enjoy average security and equal rights as provided under EU law, but get this far with difficulty because conditions restrict literally the number of applicants who can succeed.
Access to nationality • Immigrants and their descendants are now better eligible for nationality, as in established and reformed immigration countries. • The law considered that all children born in Greece deserve to grow up there like Greek children, without greater administrative obstacles.
Anti-discrimination • As with long-term residence, Greece's anti-discrimination policies are slightly weaker than average in Europe. • Victims have limited options to enforce their rights, facing a long process with no alternative dispute resolution or class actions.
Poland • Poland is a country of emigration, though fewer Poles have left since the global recession. Non-EU migrants, a rare sight in the country and its major cities, are increasingly needed to fill labour shortages.
Long term residence • Long-term residence is a slight area of strength for integration in Poland, thanks to EU law. • A non-EU resident waits 5 years on a particular permit without leaving Poland for over 6 months.
Access to nationality • As in most Central European countries, access to nationality remains an area of weakness in Poland, with the former President vetoing a significant attempt at improvement. • The current path to citizenship is long for the first generation (10 years) and ignores the situation of the second and third generation.
Anti-discrimination • Despite some recent improvements, Poland still offers its residents slightly unfavourable protection against discrimination, well below the European average. • Residents are protected against discrimination on grounds of nationality, ethnicity and religion but only in employment.
Spain • Few societies transformed as quickly and permanently into countries of immigration as Spain – now Europe's largest. Job losses hit young and temporary workers the hardest, including migrants.
Long term residence • Like reunited families, long-term residents are better able to secure their future in Spain than in most European countries because of the 2009 Immigration Law's use of EU standards.
Access to nationality • For Spain to resemble other major immigration countries, its slightly unfavourable path to citizenship needs reform. • Many reforming countries make access quicker for all newcomers and simpler for their descendants, inspired by established immigration countries: around 4 to 6 years' residence (currently 10 in ES and IT) and citizenship at birth after one generation.
Anti-discrimination • Spain is slightly less prepared to fight discrimination than the average European country because of nationality discrimination and its critically weak equality body. • Spain's average definitions and enforcement mechanisms protect victims of ethnic, racial and religious discrimination, but not nationality discrimination, an issue of national interest for a country of immigration.
Sources • The dates are take from Mipex (www.mipex.eu). • The MIPEX project is led by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group. 37 national-level organizations, are affiliated with the MIPEX project alongside the British Council offices in 31 countries across Europe, Canada and the USA.
