In The News

Asylum Applications Down 41%

Matthew Tempest February 24, 2004
The number of asylum seekers to the UK has dropped since last year due to governmental reforms, according to David Blunkett, the UK's Home Office Secretary. Asylum seekers, once a contentious issue in British politics, now seem to be overshadowed by the uncertainty of migration from new members of the European Union. Many in Britain worry that citizens from the former Soviet countries will...

Countering Suspicions

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger February 20, 2004
When Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder met in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss the future of the European Union (EU), there was a suspicion that these three countries were trying to create a future EU directorate. Other EU countries, including future member states, fear being dominated by a Franco-German power alliance. However, in this article in the F.A.Z Weekly, the author argues...

Europe Can No Longer Rely on Immigrant Workers

Jonathan Power February 19, 2004
Europe needs to realize that immigrant workers alone will not solve the problem of an aging population, says the author of this article. One country, Sweden, has already made this realization and has increased the retirement age to 67. But given Sweden's long-term demographic changes, analysts have estimated that the retirement age could go as high as 79. An aging population, however, is...

We Need a Common Strategy

Romano Prodi February 18, 2004
In recent years, the European Union has grappled with waves of violent anti-Semitic attacks. This, combined with the anger some Europeans feel over Israel's policies, has turned relations with Jewish citizens into a tense conflict. In this Financial Times editorial, Romano Prodi – president of the European Commission – calls for concrete action against intolerance. This week leading public...

The Underbelly of Globalisation

Tony Woodley February 7, 2004
17 men and 2 women from China died off Morecambe Bay in northwest England when they were out picking cockles (bivalve mollusks found in wet sand). "This is not a migration issue. It is an exploitation issue." says Tony Woodley, general secretary of the UK's Transport and General Workers' Union. He criticizes both the "reckless employers" who benefit most from hiring...

UK May Tighten Benefit Controls to Deter New EU Immigrants

Patrick Wintour February 5, 2004
Responding to pressure from right-wing press and the Conservative party, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair now says he will consider measures that would withhold benefits for migrants from EU accession countries when they join the Union in May. Previously supporting the free movement of Eastern Europeans across the EU, Blair found himself isolated when Sweden imposed immigration controls a week ago....

Headscarf Ban Misses the Point

Shada Islam January 30, 2004
The debate that has raged in France for 15 years over the right of Muslim girls to wear religious headscarves to school has come to a head with a plan to ban the practice. The French ideal of strict separation of church and state has pushed the government to ban this "conspicuous" display of religious identity in state schools. Moreover, some feminists and government officials consider...