Integration in Germany Berlin, 16 April 2013

Integration is a Federal Government priority This concerns a great number of policy areas; lead: Federal Ministry of the Interior What does integration mean? → Equal opportunities and participation Who are the addressees? → Immigrants who are legal residents and are likely to stay in Germany for the long term, irrespective of their national or ethnic origin

What is the Federal Government's role? → primarily, legislative → requires specific conditions to be met: no immigration without integration. → on the principle of providing support but asking for more effort in return.

Key to integration: German language skills Anchor measure: Integration courses carried out by approx. 1,500 course providers across Germany → 600 hours of language instruction + 60 hours of orientation course Aim: Language level B 1 and familiarization with life in Germany → The Federal Government has spent more than 1 billion euros on these courses since their introduction in In 2013: € 209 million

Integration courses - trends → since 2005, more than 1.13 million immigrants were entitled to take part; approx. 480,000 immigrants were required to take part approx. 530,000 participants have successfully completed courses → since 2005, a total number of 855,000 have attended → at present, there are roughly 95,000 new participants per year → overall: number of participants is decreasing; however, the number of EU citizens attending such courses is growing; In 2012: over EU citizens

Accompanying measures Advising for adult immigrants;Migration advising for adult immigrants (MBE) offered during and after participation in the course → 2013: 25.7 million euros were spent on MBE Project funding: Measures aiming at the social integration of immigrants at the local level → 2013: 16.7 million euros were spent on projects → The focus is on neighbourhood community-oriented projects. Important aspect: Strengthening the integration work carried out by immigrant organizations; therefore, structural funding was introduced in

Outlook: Future trends Shortage of skilled labour due to demographic change Recruitment of well skilled workers becomes more and more important. Germany must become more attractive for highly skilled workers, for example by reducing red tape and recognizing foreign qualifications To sum up: Developing a more welcoming culture

Thank you!