The motivations driving the experience exchange programme are directly linked to the A,B,C framework:
Assistance to migrants – as this is about an inter-professional exchange of best practices of those who are in direct and constant contact with end-users;
Building bridges – through the experience exchange and mentoring programme, participants will look at the social and administrative environment around, relating their work with other stakeholders (local authorities, third sector bodies etc.);
Cooperation – the project proposed here encourages participant, stakeholders doing similar work, to come together through a study visit in Brussels and Luxembourg, at a final conference, and on web-based learning platforms.
Partner organisations in this project have worked on a charter which lays the values, principles and legal framwork of this project.
- European law and values which already exist
- Why is it necessary to apply the full range of Union law and European values to free movement within the EU and why has this not been done so far?
- A project (Flowchart) to explore the scope and limits of the one-stop shop service for migrants
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CHARTER ON FREE MOVEMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENS WITHIN THE EU
This charter reflects the commitment of civil society organizations (CSOs) to providing advice and assistance to European citizens on the move in the Union, particularly the most vulnerable.
“The right of the European citizen to move freely throughout the territory of the EU is the clearest and most important demonstration that the EU Treaties are ultimately concerned with individual freedom. But there is a gap between the fine principles of the Treaties as interpreted by the European Court of Justice and what actually happens on the ground.”[1]
European law and values already exist
To close this gap requires implementation of agreed Treaty rights, legislation and guidelines:
- The case law of the European Court of Justice on articles 18 “citizenship of the Union” and 12 “equal treatment” is codified in directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members “to move freely within the territory of the member states.”
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights has become legally binding with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and both reaffirm European rights, and sets them in a wider context of traditional and more modern universal human rights.
- The 11 common basic principles for immigrant integration policy in the European Union agreed by all member states are drawn up with migrants from outside the Union in mind, but are also valid for free movement within the Union.
- The Europe for Citizens’ Programme has provided funding for this exchange and mentoring programme. It has developed through partnership between the Commission and CSOs, a sense of European values and ways to defend and promote them through volunteering and other forms of active European citizenship.[2]
- In an agenda for a reformed cohesion policy (the Barka report of April 2009), a strong case is made for including all forms of migration as one of the future priorities for the large-scale EU funds.
Why is it necessary to apply the full range of Union law and European values to free movement within the EU and why has this not been done so far?
In the early stages of establishing the common market, the emphasis was on free movement of workers. Only gradually did the legislation follow. Trends in intra-EU migration become extended to self-employed persons, students and pensioners. Whilst the main emphasis remains on economic migration within the EU, there are only some 11 million EU citizens living and working in other member states.
After the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 27, free movement within the EU did not change fundamentally and remained overall at a low level. The debate was dominated by the issue of whether or not transitional measures limiting access to the labour market from new member states should continue, creating an unfair sense of first and second class European citizens.
The EU migrants may find themselves facing largely disconnected services, being passed on from one emergency service to the next, because their entitlements to social assistance, even medical help, are not always clear. This is due to the gap between the fine principles of European law and the often restrictive way it is interpreted or misinterpreted.
There are a number of reasons why this must change and why EU should consider free movement with all its policy implications. This can change particularly with the creation in the Commission of a new post held by Viviane Reding, Vice-President for Justice, fundamental rights and citizenship:
- Although intra-EU migration is a win-win situation, there are unacceptable side-effects with EU migrants denied basic rights. It is contrary to EU law and values that EU citizens practicing their free movement rights should have no real safety net if things go wrong.
- Despite the Treaties and case-law of the European Court, there are no clear responsibilities for European citizens who can be denied access to services. Yet, given the uneven and rapidly changing patterns of intra-EU migration the problems were both foreseeable and manageable. Much migration failure is temporary.
- The efforts to create and expand information and advice services are significant, particularly on-line. Not enough attention has been devoted, however, to intra-EU migration when circumstances are more difficult and where face-to-face advice is necessary. If an approach works where needs are greatest, it will work for the vast majority of other European citizens on the move.
- European law is also going through change. Whilst on the one hand, European citizens must have sufficient resources and sickness cover not to be a burden on the host member state, the European Court of Justice, in a number of landmark judgments, is reaffirming free movement as a basic right of citizenship linked to equal treatment on access to benefits. A note as the recent case-law of the European Court of Justice is attached.
A project to explore the scope and limits of the one-stop shop service for migrants
The aim of the project “FLOWCHART” is to strengthen the roles of advice services to European citizens following the patterns of intra-EU migration and to encourage more country cross-border cooperation. Furthermore, the staff and volunteers on the exchange programme will also be asked to look at the wider context of free movement of people and in the final phase bring the lessons to the attention of the EU Institutions in Brussels.
Flowchart involves an exchange and mentoring programme among CSOs following the main patterns of intra-EU migration. Building on previous projects developed, ECAS, the European coordinator, now explores the scope and limits for setting up enabling frameworks for intra-EU mobility around the concept of the ABC of the one-stop mobility shop:
A – stands for assistance to migrants in one service or location. Particularly for vulnerable migrants, it helps to find a full answer in one place, rather than being moved on constantly from one service to another. How to bring services together without discouraging specialization? For front line assistance to the EU’s most vulnerable European citizens, the one-stop shop is generally civil society, but it cannot act alone.
B – stands for building bridges to other services. Above all, the one-stop shop often reveals an inability and unwillingness of the mainstream public services to cater for vulnerable EU migrants. Local government social housing services, the health service, have to be drawn into the process. Partnership between a wide range of actors is the solution particularly in response to phenomena of rapid social change of which in our societies migration is one of the most significant.
C – stands for cooperation among different mobility stakeholders across Europe. 80% of problems could be solved if people were better prepared for what to expect in the host country before they leave. The need has been identified to link services in the country of origin with those for integration in the host country and finally to assist with the return of migrant workers. Intra-EU migration is a changing process is short-term (a few years) and circular (outward migration is followed by inward migration).
This project is meant to show the way or at least one way forward in the design of an enabling infrastructure for intra-EU migration and a support mechanism even for the most vulnerable, and will inevitably reveal gaps and fault lines between good intentions and what can be achieved
- There is evidence of a willingness by civil society to do more. In some areas there has been a significant increase in the share of people coming from other EU members consulting citizens’ advice bureaux, requiring emergency assistance or ending up in shelters for the homeless. One of the problems is that there are not enough programmes for cross-border cooperation among regions and cities to provide this type of supportive infrastructure.
- There should be real solidarity between member states of origin and host member states when it comes to ways of preventing social exclusion of workers or job-seekers practicing their free movement rights.
In an opinion on identification of outstanding barriers to mobility in the internal labour market (Soc 1324), the European Economic and Social Committee concluded “the legal framework will probably not be simplified; however it may be possible to remedy a number of shortcomings through cooperation between the member states – this is still a high source of potential.”
As this project develops, this charter will be revisited and updated and the final version discussed with EU policy makers at a conference in Brussels on 10 November 2010.
[1] Preface by Professor Sir David Edward Judge of the European Court of Justice 1992 – 2004 to “Mind the Gap: towards a better enforcement of European Citizens’ rights of free movement” ECAS December 2004
[2] Europe for citizens programme 2007-2013 – horizontal features pages 8-10
