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Immigration prudence

To provide more teeth to the new initiative, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini is seeking a five-fold increase in the number of spot checks on companies.

The scale of the problem is undoubtedly serious, as the political discourse and opinion polls show. Up to 16 per cent of Europe’s business is done off the books, according to the organisation. It is estimated that there are anywhere between three million and eight million illegal immigrants in the 27 member states. Moreover, that figure is increasing by up to 500,000 a year.

Illegal immigrants are most likely to be employed in construction, agriculture, housework, cleaning, catering and other hospitality services. By zeroing in on these sectors, EU officials expect to deal with the core of the challenge.

The burden has shifted more heavily on employers. They will now have to ensure that anyone they hire has a residence permit and also have to notify national authorities. Fines for offenders will include the cost of repatriating the worker as well as payment of any unpaid tax or social security.

The new proposals have also brought to light the complexity of the task. The corollary of the prevalence of large numbers of illegal workers in EU member states is the easy availability of jobs. The EU, like the United States where Congress is currently debating sweeping immigration reform, confronts the issue as part of a wider economic, social and cultural canvas.

With birth rates falling and native populations living longer, the sustained demand for foreign labour has become a pervasive reality. Apart from its other dimensions, the influx of illegal immigrants has alienated host populations because of the impunity with which they break the law. Moreover, among the most vocal critics of illegal aliens are people who have immigrated lawfully.

Cracking down on illegal immigration in tandem with efficient policies to promote legal migration EU members will have to increasingly rely on in the years ahead could offer the most prudent template for change.