ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLYAPP/100.012/AM 4/22 AM\666750EN.doc EN Amendment by Luisa Morgantini Amendment 9 Recital Ha (new) Ha. whereas statistical data on migration flows

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ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment

16.5.2007 APP/100.012/Am. 1-72

AMENDMENTS 1-72

Draft report (APP/100.012/A) Co-rapporteurs: Ms Sharon Hay Webster (Jamaica) and Ms Luisa Morgantini on migration of skilled workers and its effect on national development

Motion for a resolution

Amendment by Sharon Hay Webster (Jamaica)

Amendment 1 Citation 8a (new)

- having regard to the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), held in Khartoum on 23 and 24 January 2006, which reaffirmed the scope and impact of migration on development,

Or. en


Amendment 2 Citation 8b (new)

- having regard to the report adopted by the plenary Session of the Meeting of Experts from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean on Migration during March 2006,

Or. en

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Amendment 3 Citation 8c (new)

- having regard to the Brussels Declaration and Plan of Action on Asylum, Migration and Mobility, adopted at the 1st Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility held in Brussels on 13 April 2006,

Or. en


Amendment 4 Recital B

B. whereas international migration has become a priority issue on the international agenda, recently addressed by policy-makers at global, European, (deletion) Euro-African levels and Euro-ACP nation state levels and there is an increasing recognition that migration and development are closely interlinked and that they influence each other,

Or. en

Amendment by Emanuel Jardim Fernandes

Amendment 5 Recital B

B. whereas international migration has become a priority issue on the international agenda, recently addressed by policy-makers at global, European and Euro-African levels, and there is an increasing recognition that migration and development are closely interlinked at global level and that they influence each other,

Or. pt

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Amendment by Horst Schnellhardt

Amendment 6 Recital C

C. whereas (deletion) better management of migrations may generate very important gains (deletion),

Or. de


Amendment 7 Recital D

D. whereas Europe, both at community and at member-state level, has not yet adopted an integrated migration policy, with migration, development, trade and security policies being run by various non-coordinated departments,

Or. pt


Amendment 8 Recital G

G. whereas in most ACP countries above 10% of the tertiary educated adult population have emigrated to the European Union, North America and other developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa is the region most severely hit by the migration of skilled workers, with almost the entire region witnessing a rate of tertiary educated population living in OECD countries above 20%1, and some small countries reaching a dramatic rate of 80%2,

Or. en

1 OECD (2006) 'effects of migration on sending countries: what do we know' 2 Report of the United Nations Secretary-General entitled 'International Migration and Development' (A/60/871)

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Amendment by Luisa Morgantini

Amendment 9 Recital Ha (new)

Ha. whereas statistical data on migration flows from Africa are often incomplete and outdated, depriving policy-makers of an important tool to take decisions,

Or. en


Amendment 10 Recital Ja (new)

Ja. whereas the brain drain signifies for the country of origin the loss of tax revenue and, at worst a loss, at best no direct return, on the investment made to train and educate skilled professionals,

Or. en


Amendment 11 Recital Jb (new)

Jb. whereas the brain drain slows down the innovation process in sending countries, further harming the potential for economic growth,

Or. en


Amendment 12 Recital Jc (new)

Jc. whereas the brain drain has an impact in the political field, threatening sending countries' stability and public-institution building and undermining respect for individual rights,

Or. en

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Amendment 13 Recital Jd (new)

Jd. whereas the brain drain may have social effects on family composition, gender equality, children's education and health,

Or. en


Amendment 14 Recital Je (new)

Je. whereas migrant children's growth, health and education are affected by migration, with either positive (remittances can relieve child labour and increase households' expenditure on education and health) or negative (family disintegration and stress, lower parental supervision can result in declining school attendance and results) outcomes,

Or. en

Amendment by Mustafa Attiat (Sudan)

Amendment 15 Recital Jf (new)

Jf. whereas the departure of a skilled migrant signifies a loss of investment in previous education and training for the country of origin as well as a loss of skills and experience that would contribute to development; in Sudan, it is important that this phenomenon be counter-balanced by "earn, learn and return" strategies to encourage migrants to return; it is important for Sudan to adopt specific programmes in critical sectors like health and education,

Or. en

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Amendment 16 Recital L

L. whereas, while Europe and ACP countries have committed themselves to work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including goal n° 2 (achieving universal primary education), goal n° 4 (reducing child mortality), 5 (improving maternal health) and 6 (combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases) meeting those objectives could be threatened by the large-scaled exodus of professors, doctors and nurses from sub-Saharan Africa to OECD countries and made more difficult by the lack of international regulatory frameworks designed to ensure that the objectives are met,

Or. pt


Amendment 17 Recital L

L. whereas, while Europe and ACP countries have committed themselves to work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including goal n° 2 (achieving universal primary education), goal n° 4 (reducing child mortality), 5 (improving maternal health) and 6 (combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases) meeting those objectives could be threatened by the large-scaled exodus of professors, doctors and nurses from ACP nation states to OECD countries,

Or. en

Amendment by Jürgen Schröder

Amendment 18 Recital M

M. whereas skilled migration from developing countries to Europe is fuelled by economical factors (poverty, underdevelopment, low wages, poor education system, ageing and declining population in OECD countries leading to labour shortage), political factors (violence, conflicts, political repression, especially against intellectuals, aggravated by their exile) and - prominently for African countries - by geographical proximity, common language and colonial or historical ties,

Or. en

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Amendment 19 Recital Ma (new)

Ma. whereas manpower needs in European Countries give rise to an adverse effect by draining the skilled labour force from ACP States, thereby contributing to a decrease in the quality of life and public social services in ACP States,

Or. en


Amendment 20 Recital Mb (new)

Mb. whereas the issue of irregular or forced migration is being addressed in terms of security considerations, rather than in the wider context of development that takes account of the problems of migration in development strategies,

Or. en


Amendment 21 Recital N

N. whereas skilled migration can have positive consequences for the individual migrant, such as better economic perspectives and higher salaries, and also for his or her family in the home country and for the home country itself,

Or. de

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N. whereas skilled migration can have positive consequences for the individual migrant through better economic perspectives and higher salaries, and also for countries of origin, in particular through the sending of remittances,

Or. pt



N. whereas skilled migration can have positive consequences for the individual migrant, such as better economic prospects and higher salaries,

Or. en


Amendment 24 Recital Na (new)

Na. whereas it is vital to note the positive contribution which migration could make to promoting better understanding amongst civilisations and cultures and to transcending post-colonial and territorial divisions through the establishment of relationships between states and peoples,

Or. en


Amendment 25 Recital O

O. whereas a difficult integration of migrants in receiving countries and in countries of origin, discriminations and brain waste (referred to as the phenomenon where a migrant is hired below his/her skill level) can put a damper on these career upgrades,

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Or. pt


Amendment 26 Recital P

P. whereas remittances are the second most important source of external finance for developing countries, produce positive impacts in countries of origin (mainly an increase in migrants' families' income and an increase in consumption and investment - fuelling in turn economic growth) and have a counter-cyclical effect in the event of economic crises, wars and natural disasters, but whereas up to 20% of their value is consumed by handling charges,

Or. en


Amendment 27 Recital Q

Q. whereas the effectiveness of voluntary codes of conduct (which in certain cases do not adequately comply with the provisions laid down by the International Labour Organisation) on ethical recruitment has been put into question by experts and practitioners, even more when limited to the public sector,

Or. pt


Amendment 28 Recital Qa (new)

Qa. having regard to the negative effects of deportation to their countries of origin of criminals who have completed prison sentences, and the difficulties caused by the risks of the propagation of major criminal activity,

Or. en

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Amendment 29 Recital Qb (new)

Qb. whereas the spread of HIV/AIDS is greatly exacerbated in instances of forced migration and amongst refugee populations and asylum seekers, thereby placing a heavy burden on the social services of receiving countries,

Or. en


Amendment 30 Recital R

R. whereas circular migration (allowing two-way movement between countries of origin and destination) facilitates genuine international mobility, enables international awareness to develop and offers major opportunities for the development of host countries and countries of origin, and should therefore be encouraged and facilitated,

Or. pt


Amendment 31 Recital T

T. whereas return migrants may, paradoxically, be extremely difficult to integrate into their countries of origin and are also more vulnerable to unemployment in their countries of origin than the people not having migrated before,

Or. pt


Amendment 32 Recital Ua (new)

Ua. whereas the ageing European population will put even more pressure on the skilled labour market and thus increase the problems already visible, and therefore a more responsible and better management of skilled labour migration will be necessary in the EU and ACP countries,

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Or. en


Amendment 33 Recital Ub (new)

Ub. whereas 'one-size solutions' do not fit all; whereas better research into ACP national labour markets will therefore be necessary in order to bridge the information gap and to address the shortcomings of skilled labour migration more adequately,

Or. en


Amendment 34 Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the EU Member States and ACP countries to increase their efforts to meet their commitment towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and in particular halving extreme poverty in the world by 2015;

Or. en



Deleted

Or. de



2. Stresses (delete) the potential benefits of well-managed international migration for

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migrants, for the development of the countries of origin and for host countries; those benefits can be greater than those generated by freer international trade;

Or. en


Amendment 37 Paragraph 2a (new)

2a. Points out that a bad and incoherent migration policy has enormous consequences in terms of individual suffering and permanent under-development;

Or. en



4. Expresses concern at the (deletion) EU Member States' current migration policies focused on security priorities rather than on development priorities;

Or. en



4a. Stresses that EU development aid should be aimed at tackling the underlying causes of migration and at eradicating poverty;

Or. en


Amendment 40 Paragraph 4b (new)

4b. Expresses concern at the potential adoption by the EU of discriminatory practices

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amongst different categories of migrants and calls upon the Commission to prevent it; calls, therefore, upon the Commission to extend to all categories of migrants the advantageous working and living conditions for highly skilled migrants suggested in the Policy Plan on Legal Migration (COM 2005/669), soon to be reflected in a proper directive, such as an EU work permit (EU green card), issued by one Member State but valid throughout the EU;

Or. en



5. Stresses the need for integrated migration policies at international, regional (including EU and ACP levels) and national levels by ensuring mainstreaming of migration concerns in poverty reduction strategies and coherence between all policies that can influence migration, such as agriculture, fisheries, trade, development, security and justice and home affairs, and foreign affairs;

Or. en



6. Urges the European Commission (deletion), EU Member States and ACP countries to address jointly migration and development policies and to explore synergies between them, in order to enhance the effectiveness of both policies alike;

Or. en



7. Urges the European Union Member States, international intergovernmental institutions and other relevant institutions to design and implement preventive measures and strategies intended to eradicate racial discrimination, xenophobia,

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ethnocentrism and related intolerance against migrants from ACP States;

Or. en



10. Calls on the Commission and EU Members States to develop and implement, as stated in April 2006 conclusions, an EU Code of Conduct for ethical recruitment of health workers, and recommends that its scope be extended to other vital areas such as education and that an improved code be based on the objective that both public and private recruiters should adopt an ethical approach to, or even better abstain from, the hiring of skilled migrants working in any area in which their country of origin suffers from a drastic labour shortage; and commends those EU Member States which have already done so like the UK;

Or. en



10. Calls on the Commission and EU Members States to develop and implement, as stated in April 2006 conclusions, an EU Code of Conduct (compliant with the International Labour Organisation provisions) for ethical recruitment of health workers, and commends those EU Member States which have already done so like the UK;

Or. pt



10. Calls on the European Commission and EU Members States to develop and implement, as stated in April 2006 conclusions, an EU Code of Conduct for ethical recruitment of health workers, and commends those EU Member States which have already done so like the UK;

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Or. en

Amendment by Mustafa Attiat (Sudan)


10a. Supports bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries of origin and receiving countries in order to: (i) enhance the contribution to development; (ii) build human and institutional capacity for maximising the benefits of

migration; (iii) provide improved social and economic conditions in countries of origin in order

to minimise factors that make people leave their home in search of self-improvement; and

(iv) promote advocacy and awareness-creation;

Or. en



11. Stresses that a voluntary code of conduct on ethical recruitment, even more if limited to public sector, is by no means not enough to address the consequences of massive skilled migration - control measures in the countries of origin and the receiving countries are required;

Or. pt



11. Stresses that a voluntary code of conduct on ethical recruitment, even more if limited to public sector, is a good but insufficient measure to address the consequences of massive skilled migration;

Or. en

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12. Calls on the European Union and ACP countries to significantly increase investments in training and education in developing countries, targeting sectors suffering from labour shortages, especially health and education (deletion);

Or. en



12. Calls on the European Union and ACP countries to significantly increase investments in training and education in developing countries, targeting sectors suffering from labour shortages, especially health and education, through the creation of joint centres of excellence at national or regional level;

Or. pt



12a. Calls on the European Union and ACP countries to create national and regional centres of excellence, especially in the form of universities and research institutes;

Or. en



Deleted

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Or. en



14. Calls on developing countries to invest the benefits of oil boom in long-term strategies and programmes in education and training and to use those revenues in a transparent fashion;

Or. pt



15. Urges ACP States to develop the potential sources of economic wealth that they possess and to pay special attention to developing human resources and generating employment in all relevant sectors;

Or. en



15. Encourages ACP countries to create better economical, political and social conditions that will stimulate skilled workers to stay in or return to their countries of origin;

Or. en



15a. Urges the European Commission to collaborate with the ACP Secretariat in order to

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identify economic-support initiatives under the Cotonou Agreement which would enable countries of origin to improve their economic profile and cut the rate of illegal migration, thereby reducing the tension between partner states within the JPA;

Or. en



15b. Calls on the EU Member States to live up to their Lisbon targets, such as improving the quality of education and increasing female-labour participation rates in order to increase the supply of skilled labour within the EU, thereby lowering the pressure on the international skilled labour market;

Or. en



17. Urges the European Commission, the EU Member States and ACP countries to take decisive measures to tackle brain waste, such as international or bilateral mutual recognition of diplomas and skills and explicit efforts to fight discriminations at the recruitment stage;

Or. en



20. Calls on EU and ACP governments to design and implement policies in order to maximise the positive impact of remittances by obtaining larger, faster, cheaper and better channelled remittances flows, especially by cutting red tape and improving banking services for small transactions without over-regulating the market;

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Or. en


Amendment 61 Paragraph 21, introductory phrase

21. In particular, calls on the European Commission, EU Member States and ACP countries to implement policies aiming at:

Or. en


Amendment 62 Paragraph 21, fifth indent

– creating innovative financial products for migrants, such as lightly taxed ‘savings for development’ accounts in receiving countries where migrant can save funds to be later remitted,

Or. de



26. Calls on EU Member States and ACP countries to undertake necessary actions to ensure pension portability, (deletion) the portability of health benefits by migrants returning to their countries and the possibility to come back for healthcare in the country where services were provided;

Or. en



Deleted

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Or. en



27. Calls on EU Member States and ACP countries to examine dual citizenship agreements in order to encourage circular migration and eventual return;

Or. de



29. Calls on the EU Member States and ACP countries to design specific initiatives (deletion) aimed at supporting voluntary return of migrants, in the framework of the thematic programme of cooperation with third countries in the areas of migration and asylum (deletion);

Or. en


Amendment 67 Paragraph 29, introduction

29. Calls on the EU to design specific initiatives (deletion) aimed at supporting voluntary return of migrants, in the framework of the thematic programme of cooperation with third countries in the areas of migration and asylum, with the following components:

Or. de

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32. Calls on host countries and countries of origin to support, logistically and financially, the initiatives of diasporas and associations of migrants aimed at migrants' integration, collective transfer of remittances, investment projects in their countries of origin and the dissemination of information concerning acquired rights;

Or. pt



32a. Advises the governments of the countries of origin also to develop closer ties with migrants, by granting them political rights such as dual citizenship or representation in the national Parliament, by setting up specific ministries for migrants or institutional platforms where various public and private actors work together, following the example of the Moroccan FINCOME programme;

Or. en



34a. Welcomes the creation of migration research centres in Africa in the framework of the intra-ACP Migration Facility as sources of reliable data and additional tools for better policy-making and migration management, in particular by ACP governments;

Or. en

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34b. Welcomes the announced establishment of migration information and management centres1 to be founded under the EU Programme on Migration and Development for Africa with the objectives of providing information and support to potential migrants and to returning migrants, and calls on EU Member States to support those centres financially and logistically;

Or. en



35a. Stresses that the role of diasporas, migrants' associations and NGOs needs to be accompanied by a coherent and effective migration and development policy in the host countries and in the countries of origin;

Or. en

1 The first migration information and management centre will be created in Bamako (Mali)

Documents

ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLYAPP/100.012/AM 4/22 AM\666750EN.doc EN Amendment by Luisa Morgantini Amendment 9 Recital Ha (new) Ha. whereas statistical data on migration flows