Policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member states

Parliamentary Assembly
Assembl�e parlementaire

Policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member states
Recommendation 1625 (2003)

Doc. 10141
16 April 2004

Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 881st meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (14 April 2004)

1. The Committee of Ministers has taken note with interest of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1625 (2003) on policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member states and has brought it to the attention of member states. At the same time it has communicated it to the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS) for information, and to the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), the Steering Committee for Education (CD-ED), and the Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT).

2. The Committee of Ministers shares the Parliamentary Assembly’s concern that immigration questions should not be dictated merely by concern over security and border controls, and agrees that effective integration policies are needed to allow immigrants to participate fully in the life of the host community and raise awareness of diverse cultures and traditions among non-immigrant populations. The Ministerial Conference in Helsinki in September 2002 called for a long-term perspective on migration and for the elaboration and promotion of integration policies, demonstrating member states’ strong commitment. The Committee agrees that strategies for integration must necessarily cover all areas of society, and include social, political and cultural aspects.

3. In the wake of the 2002 Helsinki Conference and through the extensive work of the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), the Council of Europe will continue its efforts to elaborate and promote integration policies to meet the challenges of modern society. This work recognises the need for a holistic and comprehensive approach. Ongoing work is based on the Council of Europe strategy on integration and community relations as described in the landmark reports "Diversity and Cohesion: New Challenges for the Integration of Immigrants and Minorities" and "Framework of Integration Policies". In this context, the CDMG held its December 2003 meeting in Rotterdam and held a seminar on "Focus on Integration" on the initiative of the Dutch Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, "to share ideas on integration policy, to look at the progress made in member States and to further promote co-operation amongst the member States in the field of integration". The proposals discussed and arising from the seminar on "Focus on Integration" will be examined by a Committee of Experts to make proposals to the CDMG including, if appropriate, a draft recommendation or opinion on innovative integration policies. Bilateral targeted dissemination and support activities – at local and national level – will be undertaken to assist member states in developing and implementing policies in this field.

The recommendations of the Assembly will be carefully considered by the CDMG when designing and implementing its activities. The Committee of Ministers also draws the Assembly’s attention to the 2004 research topic of the European Population Committee entitled "Migrant populations in Europe, challenges of integration and social cohesion".

4. The Council of Europe carries out many different activities aimed at enhancing opportunities for intercultural dialogue. A number of these initiatives are described in the appended opinions of the Steering Committee for Culture and the Steering Committee for Education. The Opatija Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention (especially paragraph 3 on good governance in cultural policy) and the Athens Declaration on Intercultural Education in the New European Context were again the expression of a firm stance by member states in the area of integration.

5. The 2004 Programme of Activities brings together, in a transversal programme on intercultural dialogue, four projects in the fields of community relations, cultural policy, education, and youth. These projects address the cultural diversity expressed by long-standing communities resulting from past migrations, who should not be referred to as immigrants, as well as those resulting from recent and ongoing migrations. The sports sector also supports intercultural understanding and social cohesion of diverse communities. This question is also being dealt with by the youth sector through its annual programme on human rights education, from the angles of prevention and fight against xenophobia/racism and violence; and the promotion and respect of the human rights of immigrants.

6. Language policies should also foster integration. The Committee of Ministers supports the opinion of the CD-ED that it is necessary to address the policy implications of introducing objective standards of competence not only in foreign but in other languages. This requires exploring the increasingly complex overlaps and divergences between mother tongue, languages of instruction and languages traditionally defined as "foreign", as they are experienced by learners.

7. Finally, one of the two statutory priorities of the Council of Europe Development Bank is the provision of assistance to refugees, migrants and displaced persons. The Bank continues to set aside a large proportion of its funding possibilities for these population groups and for projects to assist the integration of migrants into host countries (such as those concerning infrastructures and health care).

Appendix 1 to the reply

Opinion of the Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1625 (2003) on the policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member states

1. The Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) warmly welcomed Recommendation 1625 (2003) on the importance of the integration of immigrants into society and the major role that community relations, political life, education and cultural development play in order to achieve it.

2. Consequently, the CDCULT is happy to make comments and to provide information on its own projects in this context.

3. As confirmed by the Parliamentary Assembly, in order to achieve the integration of immigrants, it is necessary to:

3.1. improve knowledge of the culture of immigrants' communities, in particular through more personalised integration programmes. Indeed, those programmes should concern not only the migrants recently arrived in the host country (men as well as women of all ages) but also those who have been living there for a longer time already. These integration programmes should consist among others of language tuition and information on the way of life and customs: administrative proceedings, health, rights, housing and employment;

3.2. further promote intercultural dialogue between immigrants' and non-immigrants' communities. The Council of Europe Declaration on Cultural Diversity (adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 December 2000) stresses the freedom of creative expression and the freedom of information in every form of cultural exchange (linguistic exchange, book and foreign literature fairs, food festivals, twinnings) and other events (artistic for example), and more specifically those using new information technologies.

4. The "Creating Cultural Capital" (CCC) project set up in 2003 seeks to promote and support European and global cultural diversity and creativity and to provide local level access to the means of cultural production and exchange in the context of the cultural industries and the global market. The project is built among others on a data bank of cultural information and resources as well as an electronic network system of cultural exchange serving governments, institutions, agencies, businesses, communities and individuals. It was officially launched in December 2003 in southeast Europe and in January 2004 in the Barents Region (Scandinavia).

5. The "Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention" project is part of the priorities of the CDCULT programme; an Action Plan 2002-04 was approved. During a first Expert Colloquy "Dialogue serving intercultural and inter-religious communication" in October 2002, the creation of Intercultural Forums (Think Tanks) was proposed. The first one "(Re)thinking Stereotypes: Constructing Intercultural and Inter-religious Dialogue" took place on 10-12 December 2003 in Sarajevo (Intercultural City of the Council of Europe in 2004). The next Intercultural Forum "Core Values of Intercultural Dialogue" will take place in 2004.

6. As part of the same project, the European Ministers responsible for Cultural Affairs adopted on 22 October 2003 in Opatija (Croatia) the Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention. This text builds on the European Cultural Convention and the Declaration on Cultural Diversity mentioned above.

7. Other elements of this project are the "Shared Cities" and the "Peace Cradles" whose objective is to analyse the impact of cultural projects on building inter-community dialogue. This activity works closely together with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. "Flagship Initiatives", exhibitions entitled "Histories of Dialogue" targeting the general public and completed by an interpretation of the theme of dialogue by contemporary artists, complete this project. The first module of such an exhibition was inaugurated in Sarajevo in December 2003 on the occasion of the launching of the pilot-project Sarajevo, Intercultural City of the Council of Europe.

8. The CDCULT is convinced that the NGOs, civil society and the private and public sectors will play an extremely important role in this context. This is also confirmed by the Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention under point 3: "Good governance in cultural policy". Moreover, the ONGs as well as other organisations (international, foundations) are always widely represented at the Expert Colloquies and Intercultural Forums.

Appendix 2 to the reply

Opinion of the Steering Committee for Education (CD-ED) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1625 (2003) on the policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member States

The Steering Committee for Education (CD-ED) welcomes Recommendation 1625, in particular the emphasis put on developing a mutual understanding between the immigrant and non-immigrant populations. The CD-ED believes that education is a key to the acquisition of values and attitudes such as tolerance, solidarity and respect for the other and to uprooting ignorance and prejudice. It is largely through transmission of knowledge about the "other" and through dialogue that immigrants can be successfully integrated.

The CD-ED notes that in paragraph 8.ii, the Parliamentary Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to further promote activities to foster intercultural dialogue between immigrant and non-immigrant communities, through its Directorate General of Education, Culture and Heritage, Youth and Sport.

In this context, the CD-ED should like to recall that the activities carried out within its ongoing projects on education for democratic citizenship, on history teaching and on language learning is already an important contribution to fostering mutual understanding and learning to live together. All these projects are an integral part of the 2004 Programme of Activities. The new project on The new challenge of intercultural education: religious diversity and dialogue in Europe, which was launched in 2003 is expected to take this work further and give a fresh impetus to the contents and methodologies of intercultural education. In the framework of this project, a major pan-European conference on the religious dimension of intercultural education will be held in Oslo, at the invitation of the Norwegian authorities, in June 2004. It is expected that this project will result in the preparation of practical instruments for policy-makers and teachers.

Furthermore, the 21st session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education (Athens, 10-12 November 2003) adopted the Declaration on intercultural education in the new European context which emphasises the role of intercultural education as a major contribution to maintaining and developing the unity and diversity of European societies. The Declaration points to the necessity for member states to introduce the intercultural dimension into their education policies and contains a number of recommendations to this effect.

The Committee welcomes the reference to the necessity for language tuition for recently arrived immigrants (paragraph 8.iv b.). It recalls that it has constantly promoted diversified language learning, and draws attention to its recent initiatives in this regard, notably the "Guide for Language Policies in Europe" and the Language Education Policy Profile activity which aims to provide member states with expert assistance in reviewing and planning policies for diversification. In this context, it suggests that it is necessary to address the policy implications of introducing objective standards of competence not only in foreign but in other languages. This requires exploring the increasingly complex overlaps and divergences between mother tongue, languages of instruction and languages traditionally defined as "foreign", as they are experienced by learners."