Een actieve rol voor de maatschappelijke organisaties in gemeenschappelijk integratiebeleid (en)

CES/10/46

16 April 2010

At the European Ministerial Conference on Integration, held in Saragossa on 15 - 16 April, Mr Pariza Castaños (Employees, Spain), the EESC rapporteur on the information report "New challenges of integration", presented civil society's views on future integration policies in Europe. His presentation he focused on the need to guarantee greater civil society involvement in the preparation of EU integration policies.

The conference provided an ideal opportunity to illustrate that civil society must play an active role in the preparation of integration policies, as well as in integration itself. The EESC's contribution is timely given that the EU has recently set out the policies it intends to pursue in the coming years in order to facilitate and encourage the integration of immigrants.

The crisis had hit immigrants hard and defined the economic and social landscape to which integration policies needed to be adapted in the immediate future. Mr Pariza Castaños pointed out that "integration is a two-way social process of mutual accommodation: on the part of immigrants, but also on the part of the host society. It requires strong leadership by authorities, social partners and other organisations." The EESC together and the European Commission both highlighted the importance of the European Integration Forum, which allowed civil society organisations to be actively involved in policy making at the various levels of governance.

Mr Pariza Castaños emphasised that "civil society organisations and more specifically, immigrant associations, must be guaranteed greater involvement in the preparation and promotion of EU integration policies". The EESC's participation in the European Ministerial Conference on integration reflects the bigger institutional role and political weight that it has gained in recent years in the field of immigration.

To read the full text of the opinion, please visit the EESC website

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/sections/soc/immigration_asylum.htm

For more details, please contact

Pierluigi.Brombo@eesc.europa.eu