2008-12-07/Denmark loses to EU Commission on residency directive – report
By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 7th December 2008
Denmark faces a scathing defeat at the hands of the European Commission on Wednesday when the Commission publishes its report on the residency directive, said the weekly news magazine Monday Morning, which has a copy of the Commission’s report, in its current issue.
According to the Commission, there is no reason to change the directive in the aftermath of the Metock judgement during the summer. Instead, the Commission proposes greater measures to ensure that the EU members actually implement the directive and inform the people about their rights.
Both prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and integration minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech have fought tooth and nail for a change to the directive and this objective is also a part of the immigration agreement between the government and the Danish People’s Party, Monday Morning said.
The Commission’s report also throws obstacles in the way of other elements in the immigration agreement, the magazine added.
The liberal think-tank Cepos said the Metock judgement has underlined some of the problems in Denmark’s immigration policy.
“The hesitant, preliminary reaction has first and foremost been continued considerations about detailed controls that can make it difficult for immigrants to come to Denmark,” Cepos said in a note. “The control angle is understandable but it is not a solution that is tenable in the long term when viewed in relation to the obvious problems with occupational and social integration of immigrants.”
It said the detailed control does not manage the economic challenges resulting from the right of EU citizens and their reunited families to free movement and – something overlooked in the current Danish debate – the right to social services in Denmark.
A robust and constructive immigration policy must be formulated in connection with the social services system. Denmark cannot have a political combination that respects both the EU’s more liberal immigration policy and what is seen internationally as a generous public support system of people in Denmark of working age – one of them must necessarily been given up.
The Cepos describes the possibilities of liberalising immigration into Denmark while adapting the publicly financed transfer incomes, so Denmark can attract immigrants for jobs rather than for public support.