Meeting the emerging needs for statistics on migrants: mainstreaming migration and migrant issues within other areas of social and economic statistics

Contents Policy developments driving the new needs for statistics What are these needs? Why must the ESS respond? What can be done? beginning the process of improving the availability and quality of socio-economic information on migrants

Commission Communication of June 2008: “A Common immigration policy for Europe: principles, actions and tools" A European issue “In an open Europe without internal borders, no Member State can manage immigration on its own” No longer just a Justice and Home Affairs issue “The economic, social and international dimensions of immigration should be factored into all related policy areas, including development; trade; cohesion policy; employment and social policy; environment; education; health; agriculture and fisheries; security and foreign policy and economic and fiscal policy;” Immigration must be well managed “appropriate management of economic immigration is an essential element of EU competitiveness” “the positive potential of immigration can only be realised if integration into host societies is successful”

What are the implications for migration statistics? It is no longer sufficient just to count the numbers of migrants migration must be more than just a branch of population statistics but the existing statistical needs will remain (information on the flows and stocks of migrants also become even more important) Far richer socio-economic information is needed on migrants a mainstreaming of immigration issues for policy development requires a similar mainstreaming in statistics migration-related variables will need to be added to many areas of statistics previously seen as unrelated to migration

Why must the ESS respond constructively to these needs? Political momentum is such that policy will be developed anyway – even in the absence of official statistics Real risk that the ESS will cease to be relevant and will lose influence in major policy area Alternative sources of information will increase in importance loss of expert statistical input policy may be based on unreliable data that may lack impartiality ESS may not be able to meet all statistical needs but can provide advice and support to guide the selection and use of statistics

Practical steps to meet emerging policy needs: a) planning, coordination and communication Coordination within the ESS Task Force reporting to the Directors of Social Statistics identify needs for migration-related information assess which needs can be met be the ESS long-term action plan Improve communication and cooperation with policy makers clear acknowledgement at national and European level of the need to improve communication and cooperation facilitate improvements in communication share information on good practice

Practical steps to meet emerging policy needs: b) survey data sources Assess and improve the use of the LFS and other major household surveys methodological study to assess the suitability of the LFS as a data source to provide better socio-economic information on migrants analysis of the 2008 LFS migrant module Consider changes to existing household surveys changes to the sampling process over-sampling additional or alternative sampling frames changes to survey procedures (overcoming language difficulties) additional questions; migration modules Longer term possibilities consider introduction of a specific migrant survey maximise use of data from 2011 population censuses

Practical steps to meet emerging policy needs: c) better use of administrative data Residence permit statistics continue development of residence permit statistics identify additional information that may be available from residence permit data (beyond Regulation 862/2007) exert a statistical influence over developments in the collection and processing of administrative data Facilitate data sharing between national population registers and other administrative systems individual level data (following ‘Nordic’ model) samples of individual records to assist analysis and modelling of migrant behaviour detailed aggregates

Practical steps to meet emerging policy needs: d) methodology Ensure appropriate ongoing methodological developments make best use of available financial support and expert assistance eligibility of statistical projects for funding under the Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows programme sharing of methodological information and best practices at national level between all relevant institutions at European and wider international levels

Conclusions Rapidly changing and expanding policy demands for statistics on migration The ESS must respond constructively to these needs Meeting these needs will be challenging but is possible initial step: to develop a long term action plan Better communication and closer coordination at all levels are essential