Conference: “Landscape, City Planning, Tourism” “Migrants’ entrepreneurship in Europe”

12th Meeting of the CLIP Network (Wroclaw, Poland, 20-22 May 2012)

Keynote address by Mr Henrik HAMMAR Rapporteur on migrants’ entrepreneurship

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of Europe

Mayor,

Chairman,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to address today this 12th Meeting of the Network of Cities for Local Integration Policy, in my capacity of Rapporteur of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. I would like to thank you for the invitation and for giving me this possibility.

The Current Affairs Committee of the Congress appointed me Rapporteur on migrants’ entrepreneurship in March this year, following its decision to prepare a report, a resolution and a recommendation on integration of migrants through self-employment: promoting local entrepreneurship. This decision has been inspired to a great extent by the CLIP report on “Promoting ethnic entrepreneurship in European cities”, which represents the outcome of the fourth module for this Network.

First of all, I would like to express, on behalf of Congress President Keith Whitmore, who regrets not to be able to participate in this meeting, the continued support of the Congress to the activities of your Network. CLIP is one of the most successful examples of municipal networking in Europe, a platform for exchanges of good practices on the local integration of migrants which have very practical repercussions for the action of European municipalities. This is why the Congress co-founded this Network back in 2006, this is why we have been supporting your activities and this is why we have been translating your proposals into our resolutions and recommendations – be it on local housing policies, promoting equality and diversity in municipal employment and delivery of services, meeting the challenge of inter-faith and intercultural tensions or, today, promoting migrants’ entrepreneurship.

Congress President Whitmore took part in your meeting in Frankfurt last year, when this latest module was discussed for the first time, and when he spoke of the importance of migrant entrepreneurship for integration. Indeed, while we recognise that employment is a crucial factor in the integration process, we often put an emphasis on the responsibility for hiring migrants and tend to overlook the potential of migrant communities themselves for self-employment and self-organisation, and for their own contribution to the local economy. This is why, echoing your report, we chose to explore the issue of migrants’ entrepreneurship as a major aspect of integration, to assess the situation and to look into what can be done to improve it, to provide necessary conditions and incentives for promoting self-employment in migrant communities.

This questions of employment and employability of migrants are gaining importance on the European agenda today, and I would like to structure my presentation in two parts: first, to speak about the current European context and, second, to address the specific issues raised in the CLIP report.

I would like to begin by referring to the report published last year by the Group of Eminent Persons which was set up by the Council of Europe – a report entitled “Living together: Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe”.

The task set for the Group was to identify major challenges for European democracy today. The Eminent Persons have pointed out that the rising intolerance, xenophobia and discrimination are among the main threats to our living together, and stressed that towns and cities “bear the main responsibility for ensuring that culturally diverse societies are open societies, in which people belonging to different cultural groups […] can feel at home and make their own contribution”. It is important that the Eminent Persons have specifically included among their recommendations for action the issues of participation of foreigners in local life and politics, as well as of integration of migrants and people of recent migrant origin.

The “Living Together” report was published against the background of ongoing debates about the future of European democracy, both within the European Union and the Council of Europe. This future must be seen against the background of the two simultaneous crises which we are witnessing today. One is the obvious economic and financial crisis, with its devastating impact on all levels of governance – and in particular the local and regional levels, which often have to make hard choices with regard to budget cuts and the provision of social services.

The other is a less evident crisis of democratic mechanisms and procedures, characterised by a growing gap between the institutions and the citizens, the feeling of exclusion from decision-making, a lack of public trust in democratic mechanisms and representative figures, and people’s disillusionment with democratic processes as a whole, due to the lack of effective rights of citizen participation and other institutional deficits of democracy (the weakness of parliaments vis-à-vis the executive, government work geared to short-term electoral success and lacking long-term vision, etc.).  This situation was described in a 2010 report of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly as a “crisis of democracy”, was called a “crisis of values” by one young activist from Greece, participating in a debate of the Council of Europe Congress.

Indeed, if most European citizens today do not trust their politicians – and the 2009 Eurobarometer shows that only half of them do, and this for local authorities who gained the highest score, while the figure for national and European politicians is much lower;

if most European citizens see corruption at all levels of governance as a major challenge to democracy – and this in a system of governance based on the rule of law and equal treatment;

and if many Europeans feel disempowered and excluded from decision-making on matters affecting them;

then we do have a systemic crisis which must be addressed urgently if we are to advance into the future with a stronger, not weaker, democracy.

Apart from these crises, the European reality today is characterised by two major aspects: growing ethnic and cultural diversity of European communities – due both to the influx of external migrants and internal migration within the European continent – and a surge in people’s activism outside the established institutions of governance – through civil society, voluntary activities and social networks, for example.

This means that we – public authorities – need to find new ways of engaging citizens and providing for their better and more meaningful participation in democratic decision-making, not limited to elections alone. We need a new model of continued citizen participation and feedback on public action, combining elements of direct democracy with the traditional system of representative democracy in building what can be described as “participatory democracy”.

Given the growing diversity of European societies, this participatory democracy must necessarily involve migrants, foreign residents and minority groups, and must begin with their integration. Needless to say, the local level is the first line for these democratic integration and participation, which is why the Council of Europe and the Congress have been staunch advocates for the right of foreign residents to vote and stand in local elections, and for the establishment of councils of foreign residents at local and regional levels. For us, integration and participation do indeed go hand in hand.

This was emphasised in the report of the Eminent Persons, which speaks about building a participatory framework for citizens, including the participation of migrants and minorities and their continued integration. The report formulates a number of policy recommendations and proposals for action on integration, which must include two major components.

One component is action to fight prejudice against migrants and raise public awareness of their cultures and contribution to the local community, in order to ensure non-discrimination and equality in human rights protection. In this regard, of particular importance are such issues as political discourse of elected representatives and public officials, portrayal of migrants in the media, and mediation between ethnic groups and the host community, among others. 

The second component are measures to ensure equal access to social rights and public services, which may involve affirmative action and special efforts to remedy the inherent disadvantages, and which must include access to employment, access to education, access to housing, and access to health care, among others. There is a wide range of issues involved: evaluation of the existing skills and competences linked to issuing work permits, vocational training and professional education, language-learning, etc.

These measures, in turn, should be based on the broad foundation that includes, on the one hand, measures to promote active citizenship in local communities (education on national laws and local regulations, education for democratic citizenship and human rights education, among others); and, on the other hand, interculturalism (local intercultural policies, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, etc.).

Last but not least, the complementary neighbourhood policies of the European Union and of the Council of Europe must be geared towards engaging the countries of migrants’ origin in dialogue on migration modalities. As far as internal migration is concerned, cross-border co-operation between European local and regional communities today already allows for intermunicipal and interregional dialogue between the countries of origin, transit and destination, and networks such as CLIP are crucial for fostering a coherent, Europe-wide co-operation framework on integration of migrants at local and regional levels.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We believe that these proposals for action represent a wide field for further activities of CLIP. Some of these issues have already been addressed in your modules, but there are many more that could be taken up. Still others may arise from two other documents currently under discussion in the European Commission – the Second EU Agenda for Integration, and the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, known as GAMM.

This Global Approach in particular is an important step towards a comprehensive migration policy and the creation of a comprehensive framework for managing migration in Europe. Local and regional authorities are of course key stakeholders in this process because they bear the brunt of responsibility for integration of migrants into the host community, protection of their rights – especially social rights – and ensuring their participation in host society.

The Agenda for Integration advocates, among other things, action for better employability of migrants and their access to labour markets, and the main theme of this meeting – migrants’ entrepreneurship – is highly relevant in this regard. This emphasis is also echoed in the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, which stresses an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of policies aimed at integration of migrants into the labour market. In this regard, the Congress is currently preparing another report in the Current Affairs Committee, on facilitating migrants’ access to regional labour markets. This second report will look in particular into possible measures to simplify procedures for the evaluation of migrants’ diplomas and qualifications, and for promoting the informal recognition of their skills.

The Congress also supports the special attention paid in the Global Approach to particular roles played in migration and in integration by women and by young people. We have already adopted proposals concerning the cultural integration of Muslim women in European cities (I know that the Congress Rapporteur on the subject, Ms Amy Koopmanschap, addressed the CLIP meeting in Istanbul last year), and we are currently preparing a report on engaging young people in democracy – and engaging young people of migrant origin could be a particular issue in this regard, as well as the question of employment of young migrants. Another report under preparation will look at the specific situation of young Roma in Europe.

With regard to migrants’ employment, innovative projects are needed today to help match employment supply and demand in specific areas, and local and regional authorities can play in this matter an important role as intermediaries. Last but not least, the management of problems relating to irregular migration is another area where local and regional authorities are key actors as both promoters and implementers of reception and integration policies, and also as organisers of dialogue and co-operation with countries of origin and transit. This is why neighbourhood policies of EU and of the Council of Europe, which I have already mentioned, include a substantial local and regional dimension.

We are convinced that this current context provides substantial food for thought and field for further action, and we hope to see it reflected in your future modules or other types of activities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Both employment and self-employment of migrants have been identified as pivotal issues for integration of migrants in all the major European policy documents to which I have referred in the first part of my presentation. Against the background, the entrepreneurship of migrants comes forth as a subject of crucial importance.

Migrant businesses serve many purposes indeed: they contribute directly to the local economy through business activities; they help with the job creation and employment of migrants, reducing the social stress on the host community; they help to dismantle the stereotypes and prejudices about migrants as living on public assistance or stealing jobs from native residents – especially if they actually employ native residents; finally, given the often-present “dual loyalty” of migrants to both the host community and the country of origin, they contribute to the situation in countries of origin, both through private remittances and by involving imports from and other business relations with those countries, which is the case with many migrant businesses.

Creating new businesses is also key to battling the economic and financial crisis and overcoming its impact on our communities. It is crucial for Europe’s possibilities to live through and actually benefit from the crisis, and for building a strong Europe for the future. We need to ensure that European development brings value, growth and jobs to our societies.

The values of the Council of Europe – democracy, human rights and the rule of law – require an integrated society, where all people, regardless of their ethnic origin or any other characteristic – have the possibility to be part of the community.

In this regard, having a job is a pillar of integration.  Work makes it easier to feel that you belong and that you contribute to society. Today, it is difficult for many newly arrived people to break into the regular labour market, and this is a problem which we have to solve. In today’s society we cannot afford to have a population which is fit for work but cannot break into the labour market even if they want to. Today, the tendency to start a business is somewhat higher among immigrants than among the native population in the OECD countries, which is shown by the CLIP report. However, there are big variations between different countries, and immigrants starting a new business usually have bigger obstacles to face than native residents.

If we could create better conditions to start businesses, taking into consideration the obstacles the immigrants experience in that process, it would probably be possible to increase the number of businesses in general and, in particular, the number of businesses created and operated by immigrants. This would in turn increase the number of job opportunities within the OECD and improve the conditions for taking on the challenges of the future.

Large parts of the EU economy involve small and medium-sized enterprises

More than 67% of all job opportunities within the private sector in the EU and 58% of the EU business turnover involve small and medium-sized enterprises[1]. The welfare of this continent truly depends on this type of enterprises. We need to make sure that the existing and new enterprises in Europe have the best possible conditions to get started, to grow and to continue their business activities. Europe will not pull through without SMEs.

Immigrants have proven to be a large part of our small enterprises and their will to start their own business in most cases exceeds that of the native population. We must work to improve the conditions for starting and running businesses in Europe. By directing our efforts towards the one population group which has shown a greater tendency to start businesses, we can hopefully speed up the process of increasing the overall number of business enterprises. Moreover, we should also focus on this group because it has difficulties entering the labour market in other ways. This group has considerable difficulties in comparison to the native population when it comes to getting ordinary employment. Europe cannot afford to have a population fit for work being left in idleness. Europe must protect their entrepreneurs; it is already behind the United States and Asia when it comes to the creation of new businesses.

The issue of promoting entrepreneurship and related conditions, and the difference in the entrepreneurial spirit – for example in the US in comparison to Europe – are problems that need to be addressed when we put forward proposals for improving business competitiveness and boosting SMEs. Today in general, there is a greater number of small businesses among European immigrants than among the native population, despite the fact that immigrants experience greater obstacles when starting their careers. Studies have shown that 45% of the population in the EU say that they would consider starting a business; the corresponding number in the US is 55%. With the knowledge we have about how important SMEs are for the European economy and competitiveness, these are very alarming figures. The EU programme for strengthening competitiveness and strengthening European SMEs shows the same findings as the CLIP report, and it is important that these two cooperate to produce mutually supportive activities. The CLIP report can be a good support for the EU programme proposal for business competitiveness and SMEs because it addresses the same problems as the programme proposal but from a different angle.

The ageing population

In addition, the demographic situation in Europe makes migrants an economic necessity, even an imperative. The ageing population in many parts of Europe means that fewer people have to support more people. If Europe is to be able to ensure the welfare of the ageing population, everyone needs to contribute to society. Everyone who can, must work in order for us to afford the service and care the population of a welfare society requires.

This is why we need to make sure that those who want to work should be able to work. Yet it is a well-known fact that many immigrants have troubles entering the labour market – which is sometimes a contributing reason to the high percentage of immigrants looking to start their own businesses. It is untenable that a large group of able-bodied and often well-qualified people is prevented from or experiences difficulties in accessing the labour market. We must work to remove as many obstacles as possible in order to let this group fully contribute to society and the economy.

The ageing population also creates new needs for new businesses, and prompts new ideas regarding service and care. There is a market here, which is well-suited for new small businesses, and we need to make it simpler and more flexible for our immigrants to start and run businesses.

Funding: micro-credits

One of the obstacles that immigrants experience to a greater extent than the native population is the difficulty in finding funding. Micro-credits are mentioned in the CLIP report as a good way of improving the possibilities for immigrants to start their own business. In Sweden, some cities have used micro-financing as an alternative to usual bank loans. There are undoubtedly many good examples in Europe on how to create financing opportunities for people, as well as ideas and activities that today, the banks find it to be too unsafe to grant loans. We need to get better at promoting these best practises so that others can follow. Micro-credits seem to be a way of creating good financing opportunities for new ideas and for people the banks have no interest in.

Make sure that the initiatives and the financing opportunities for immigrants are marketed at local level

At local level, there is a big difference in the information about support and financing available to business owners compared to future business owners. Furthermore, there are big differences in how this information reaches the groups that have trouble with understanding the language, or lack skills and in certain cases the possibility to obtain the necessary knowledge.

It is important that the existing opportunities for support and financing of migrant businesses are properly marketed and made accessible for those who need them. Here it might also be useful to exchange experiences and best practices on how to reach the groups that are in the greatest need in the most efficient way.

Links to other efforts in Europe

In conclusion, I would like to stress the importance of networking, of pulling together resources, efforts and activities in order to promote migrants’ entrepreneurship at local level. In the CLIP report, there are clear links to the Europe 2020 Strategy and the programme proposal for business competitiveness and SMEs. They address the same issues and the same problems, but, in certain cases, seen from different perspectives that are complementary to each other.

However, economic and administrative measures to promote and facilitate migrants’ entrepreneurship must go hand in hand with political and social efforts aimed at fighting discrimination, ensuring equality and overcoming prejudice and reluctance in accepting the Other. These efforts must also include raising awareness of the economic need for migrant businesses, both for European economic development and as part and parcel of the overall integration of migrants. If we look deeper, we might very well find that the biggest obstacle to allowing migrants’ entrepreneurship to thrive is in our mind. This is one perspective that needs to be addressed if we are to draw full economic and social benefit from European diversity, which, I am sure, will be among issues to be discussed during this meeting.

I thank you for your attention, and I look forward to our discussions.



[1]These numbers are mentioned in the proposal for a programme for business competitiveness and SMEs (2014-2020).