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04 March 2015 by eub2 -- last modified 04 March 2015

For almost twenty years, the European Union has been building the foundations of an overarching and comprehensive migration policy. This memo offers an overview of European actions in this area, which also underscores the need for a comprehensive European Agenda on Migration.

At the start of the European integration process, Justice and Home Affairs were strictly a national competence. After the creation of a Single European Market in 1986, competences in the field of Justice and Home Affairs gradually shifted to the European level as well. Justice and Home Affairs were increasingly formalised and European legislation and policy-making were put in place since the 1990s, although several aspects still remain a shared competence with the national level.

The entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 marked the end of the "third pillar" or a separate approach to the area of Justice and Home Affairs. As of 1st of December 2014, limitations to the judicial control by the European Court of Justice and to the Commission's role as Guardian of the Treaty over the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters have come to an end. This has marked the beginning of a new era for the whole field of Justice and Home Affairs, with full competence for the Commission to launch infringement proceedings if EU law has not been correctly implemented.

European Migration Policy today includes policies on legal migration, irregular migration, borders, visa, a Common European Asylum System and the external dimension. In addition, the European Union has an Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to support Member States with the efficient management of migration flows and the implementation, strengthening and development of a common European approach to asylum and immigration.

Legal migration, mobility and integration

20.4 million third-country nationals are living in the EU in 2013 amounted therefore to 4% of the total EU population.The most important groups of third country nationals were Turks, Moroccans, Chinese Indians and Ukrainians.

Since the early 2000s, the European Commission has been developing and expanding a European legal migration policy that set out the conditions of entry and residence and also minimum of rights that migrants should enjoy to successfully integrate our society.

In 2003, the EU created a single status for non-EU long-term residents. The Directive approximates the laws of EU countries and ensures equal treatment throughout the Union, whatever the EU country of residence. Under EU rules, all non-EU nationals residing legally in the territory of an EU country for at least five years of continuous legal residence, are granted "long-term resident" status.

It also adopted the Family Reunification Directive that establishes the rules and conditions under which non-EU nationals who are residing lawfully on EU territory including refugees may exercise the right to family reunification. On the basis of this law, legally residing non-EU nationals can bring their non-EU national spouse, under-age children and the children of their spouse to the EU State in which they are residing. Following the 2008 report on the application of this Directive, the Commission published a communication with further guidelines in 2014 on the application of the Directive.

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European Migration Policy