Doc. 9949

30 September 2003

Co-development policies as a positive measure to regulate migratory flows

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Salles and others

1.       Certain Council of Europe member states have introduced policies aimed at encouraging the return of lawfully resident immigrants to their country of origin so that they may participate in an economic development project or receive training qualifying them for reinsertion into local working life. These policies bear various names, such as return aid, reinsertion aid or co-development aid. Implementing policies of this type is relevant not only to developing countries but also to European countries or regions that are less well economically developed.

2.       These policies pursue several aims. For the host country, they are a means of stabilising migratory flows and directing aid towards development by enabling local populations to participate in economic projects. For the country of origin, they generate wealth and create jobs by strengthening production capabilities, infrastructures and the scope of action of local bodies.

3.       Co-development policy comprises several elements: assistance for framing an economic project, training and/or social reinsertion programmes, financial aid to set existing development aid and cooperation machinery into motion, access to credit facilities. It is based on active partnership, between the authorities of the host country and those of the country of origin, including through the signature of co-development agreements or reinsertion contracts, with migrant associations and companies established in the country of origin.

4.       Co-development policy also entails training programmes aimed at fostering two-way exchange, between the host country and the country of origin, of graduates or workers who train with specifically targeted companies.

5.       The results of these return aid policies remain mixed, despite the efforts made by the different partners. The supporters of these initiatives argue that a migrant trained abroad acquires intellectual and vocational skills as well as a network of contacts that can only be beneficial for the economic development of their country of origin. They add that these projects are better suited to the real situation on the ground than European or international aid packages. They also believe that such projects, based on genuine partnership, strengthen the links between immigrants and their country of origin, particularly young people with immigrant parents, who feel that they are socially useful.

6.       The detractors believe that the precept of these policies remains ambiguous since, in practice, the boundaries between encouragement and downright constraint are relatively tenuous. In this connection they point to the proposals of certain Council of Europe member states that public development aid be withdrawn from countries refusing to readmit their nationals. They consider that the economic or social impact of selected projects is limited and that co-development policies are overly ambitious for the resources available.

7.       The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, with reference to the lines of action established at the European Council meeting in Tampere, which inter alia encourage states to step up cooperation with the countries of origin in order to facilitate the return of immigrants, believes it important to make an in-depth analysis of the principles and aims of co-development policies, to study their implementation on the ground and to draw up an assessment of the results achieved both for the host country and for the country of origin. On the basis of that analysis, the Assembly might envisage, where applicable, implementing such return aid policies at the level of Council of Europe member states particularly between countries with positive and negative migratory balances, in partnership with the Council of Europe Development Bank.

8.       Already at this stage, the Assembly is proposing a number of lines of action designed to promote the success of these policies.

9.       Consequently, the Assembly invites the governments of the member states of the Council of Europe:

i.       to grant financial aid, subject to a clause giving an undertaking of return for a fixed period, so that students may complete their studies abroad;

ii.       to enable the beneficiaries of a programme to obtain a visa allowing movement between the host country and the country of origin;

iii.       to facilitate regulatory or administrative measures assisting the resettlement of migrants;

iv.       to step up cooperation between the departments concerned at the level of both the host country and the country of origin to ensure that projects are monitored and assessed;

v.       to step up the budget resources allocated to these policies and foster access to micro-credits;

vi.       to consider how the Council of Europe Development Bank could be involved, through the adoption of such programmes between Council of Europe member States.

Signed ¹:

Salles, France, EPP/CD

Akhvlediani, Georgia, LDR

Bušić, Croatia, PPE/DC

Çavuşoğlu M., Turkey, EDG

De Zulueta, Italy, SOC

Dubié, Belgium, NR

Einarsson, Sweden, UEL

Gülçiçek, Turkey, SOC

Hancock, United Kingdom, LDR

Shakhtakhtinskaya, Azerbaijan, EDG

Stoisits, Austria, SOC

Tekelioğlu, Turkey, EPP/CD

Wilkinson, United Kingdom, EDG

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group