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4 The European Union Strategy I n contrast to the failure of NAFTA to incorporate labor migration and development assistance to poor members in its vision, the European Union (EU) evolved with rigorous commitment to the economic stability of all members and freedom of travel. The EU approach permits open labor, engages in development assistance to poor nations to reduce migration pressures, and maintains border control.1 The EU approach appears to be working without massive flows of workers from poor nations to wealthy nations. In fact, poor nations do not seem so poor any longer. For those reasons, looking to the European experience for instruction—or, at least, illustration—is appealing in reviewing NAFTA and the challenge of undocumented Mexican migration. The EU started in 1951 when Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, all devastated by World War II, formed a partnership in the hope of forging economic progress.2 The Treaty of Rome of 1957, which established the European Economic Community, developed a plan for free movement of people, goods, services, and capital among the member states.3 The Schengen Agreement provided for the free movement of citizens between the member states beginning in 1995, while the Treaty of the European Union (Maastricht Treaty of 1992) enhanced the process by creating the notion of European citizenship.4 Thus, within the EU a central component of economic integration is the mobility of people. This is done with a commitment to “harmonizing” labor standards in terms of wages, the workweek, and other labor-cost fac- 80 Chapter 4 tors.5 Economic-development aid was provided to poor countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Ireland to enhance broader economic opportunities throughout the region and lessen pressure to migrate, although meeting labor needs through movement also was contemplated.6 To enhance the mobility of workers, a European Social Fund provides vocational training and retraining. This facilitates adaptation to business needs in different member countries.7 The idea is that to really integrate the member nations’ economies, the free movement of workers is necessary, and the workers should have the right to accept employment in any member nation.8 The workers’ families have the right to follow and establish new residence with the workers.9 Labor migration within the EU is not a hard sell to those who understand what is happening to the workforce in many parts of Europe, particularly in Western Europe. The EU approach to labor migration and investment has been thoughtful and deliberate. At the outset, leaders and planners knew that, as open migration was contemplated, a necessary underpinning was the reduction of economic difference between various regions of Europe. Beginning with the enlargement in 1973 to include Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the British pushed for an approach to aid poor regions. When Greece (1981) and Portugal and Spain (1986) were added, all three nations, as well as Ireland, received infusions of capital and assistance with institutional planning. This shared-responsibility model was based on “a commitment to the values of internal solidarity and mutual support.”10 To gain political support in the rich countries, funds were provided for impoverished “areas,” not poor countries, so that needy areas in rich countries could qualify , as well. Of course, most of the “adhesion” funds went to Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Ireland.11 The poor nations had suffered from significant levels of underemployment and weak safety nets, so new investments focused on capital investment and infrastructure such as roads and technology and boosted job creation. The new member countries also enacted social legislation aimed at assisting the unemployed.12 The adhesion-fund approach worked. The gap between the poor and rich nations narrowed. By the beginning of the new millennium, Ireland’s economy had transformed, and its per capita GDP was above the EU average . Incredibly, Ireland—a nation that for years had been a constant source of emigrants—began attracting immigrants.13 The feared “mass migration of the unemployed” fizzled. People stayed in their own countries because work opportunities were created. Only 2 percent of EU citizens looked for work in other EU countries.14 The EU also has adopted measures in response to some members’ concerns that nationals of certain countries might move to countries with The European Union Strategy 81 better welfare systems. To move, individuals must demonstrate the financial ability to support themselves through work or other financial ability. Migrant workers are not automatically eligible for welfare benefits. For example, unemployment benefits are not...

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