Immigration Policy in Europe

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief history of European immigration policy. Europe shifted from being a major source of immigrants for several centuries to itself becoming a major destination of immigrants after the middle of the twentieth century. European immigration policy today is an interesting compromise between mitigating the difficulties of absorbing large numbers of foreigners, expanding the free movement of people among the member states of the European Union, and respecting high standards for civil and human rights. This chapter concludes with discussions on temporary immigration programs and to what degree immigration can mitigate the problem of population ageing.