Rede des EU-Kommissionspräsidenten José Manuel Durão Barroso vom 16.10.2007 aus Anlass des Internationalen Symposiums "Integration durch Bildung im 21. Jahrhundert".
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.
Sehr geehrte Frau Bundeskanzlerin, Frau Staatsministerin Böhmer, Herr Joussen, Herr Krull, Bill Gates gönnen wir nun seine verdiente Nachtruhe. Wir aber machen weiter.
Meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren,
es ist mir eine grosse Freunde und Ehre, heute hier in Berlin zu Ihnen sprechen zu dürfen. Sie alle wissen, dies ist eine sehr wichtige Woche für die Europäische Union. Am Donnerstag und Freitag wollen wir endgültig beim Europäischen Rat in Portugal den neuen EU-Reformvertrag verabschieden. Die deutsche Präsidentschaft unter Führung von Angela Merkel hat hierfür beim Juni-Gipfel den Durchbruch erzielt und damit die Basis gelegt. Nun will die portugiesische Präsidentschaft diese Arbeit zum Abschluss bringen. Ich als Präsident der Europäischen Kommission werde ich sie dabei nach allen Kräften unterstützen.
Denn wir brauchen den neuen Reformvertrag dringend, um besser und effizienter Politik im Interesse unserer Bürgerinnen und Bürger machen zu können. Dazu zählt auch, und in Zukunft immer mehr, die Integration von Einwanderern, und wie wir diese Integration, in unserem eigenen Interesse, gesamteuropäisch gestalten können.
Integrating immigrants into our societies is of key importance at a time when the European Union is equipping itself to face up to the challenges of the 21st century. We find ourselves having to come to grips with the new realities of globalisation, the knowledge economy, security, energy and climate change but also, as we are all aware, with the new realities of demography and migration.
Europe is tackling these challenges. By stressing the importance of the education, research and innovation triangle in the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, which is our priority. By exploring avenues for working together to pre-empt the challenges posed by an ageing population in Europe and to develop a well-managed migration policy. And by taking stock of the social realities in Europe, an exercise on which we recently embarked.
The course ahead is clearly mapped out. The main political milestones are in place to guide us to our goal of creating a strong, modern and dynamic Europe in the world. However, we will not succeed in this without social cohesion. We will not succeed in this without investing in our human potential. And we will not succeed in this without rapidly mobilising our human resources and, in so doing, integrating immigrants into our society.
There is no miracle remedy for bringing about the harmonious integration of immigrants.What we do know for sure is that integration is an imperative. It is a collective endeavour ultimately based on education, which opens the door to employment and active participation in social and cultural life. We should remember that this is an issue of major importance that concerns 18.5 million residents of the European Union.
Integration is not a luxury. It is actually a political, economic, social and ethical imperative.It is a political imperative because, if integration proves problematic, this will trigger a negative response that extremists will exploit to undermine our democracies, sometimes in a violent manner, as you well know.
Integration is an economic imperative because, if immigrants are not sufficiently integrated into, say, the labour market, this will not promote growth - quite the contrary, in fact. Lastly, it is a social and ethical imperative since Europe cannot, at the same time, be in need of immigrants to meet the requirements of its economy and not offer them in return every opportunity to become fully integrated into their host society. Conversely, new arrivals here in Europe cannot, at the same time, seek out a better life and not seize the opportunities offered to them to integrate into their new environment.
Integration is a two-way process. The citizens of the Union must adapt to the diversity of those they welcome into their midst. And, I would add, "as they have always done". The philosopher Jürgen Habermas summed this up very well recently when he said: "The children of former immigrants, and their children's children, have long been part of our society." For their part, immigrants must adapt to the civic values of Europe and of their host country. This two-way process calls for a wide-ranging collective approach to integration.
Integration is a collective endeavour in which we are all partners together – Europe, the Member States, local politicians, NGOs, civil society, foundations, churches, public services and, of course, European citizens and immigrants themselves. I would also add companies, which should participate in integration efforts because they are stakeholders, too. And let us not forget the media either, which influences the way migration is presented. Everyone has an important role to play in offering guidance, in making decisions, in taking action and in enhancing awareness.
And what is the role of the European Commission in all this?
Firstly, it has established the framework conditions through instruments for promoting fundamental rights, non-discrimination and equality of opportunity. This is one of the undeniable contributions that Europe has made. Europe has also adopted legislative instruments on the conditions for admission and residence of third-country nationals that are obviously having an impact on the success of integration. Take, for example, family reunification and long-term residence.
That said, the Commission's role is one of a facilitator in the service of the Member States of the Union. In 2005 it set about tackling integration as part of a comprehensive approach to migration. We are making rapid progress on this front. The Commission has also looked at what could be done at European level. This is why we have a common framework and agenda for integration for the period from 2007 to 2010. We also have common basic principles for the policy on integrating immigrants in the EU. The Commission will be setting up a new fund to promote integration, that will have a budget of 825 million euros for the period 2007-2013. This fund will provide resources for projects involving immigrant children and young people.
Above all, the Commission has put in place a very effective instrument for encouraging Member States to exchange their experiences and tried-and-tested measures. We must concentrate on what works. Good examples of this include: pre-school education; language support, also for families; desegregation measures; improving the attractiveness of disadvantaged schools; and extra-curricular activities.
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