On 6-7 March in Brussels, the 4^th meeting took place of the European Migration Forum (EMF), the EU dialogue platform on migration, asylum and migrant integration. It discussed the challenges and opportunities for the integration of migrants into national labour markets in Europe.

The event, hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), was attended by more than 200 representatives from NGOs, local and regional authorities, national governments, the Commission and the EESC. EMEN was represented by DIESIS, AEIDL and UNITEE.

The EMF is the occasion to build a bridge between civil society and the EU institutions on the theme of migration. This year’s meeting focused on the integration of migrants into the labour market, considered a key step in the overall integration process. All the keynote speakers agreed that migrants are an important resource in our ageing societies and can help to fill skills and labour shortages. Efforts at all levels should focus on their integration into the labour market and on the recognition of equal opportunities.

Two migrants, Maria Lourdes Gernan and Ramin Shadani, gave touching testimonies of their experiences of migration and integration into the labour market, in Ireland and Slovenia respectively, and of the determination and resourcefulness this had required.

Entrepreneurship on the agenda

In addition to the plenary sessions, eight participative workshops covered different aspects of labour market integration:

• How to foster a multi-stakeholder approach in labour market integration
• Concrete solutions for better local cooperation
• Best practices in recognising and developing skills
• Matching refugees’ skills with labour market needs
• Irregular migrants in the labour market
• Preventing labour exploitation and ensuring decent working conditions
• Tackling discrimination and promoting diversity at the workplace
• Promoting entrepreneurship among migrants and supporting the social economy

The workshops were a good opportunity for discussion and confrontation and the results, as summarised by the rapporteurs, were debated in a round-table by Menno Bart (Adecco Group), Lazar Lazarov (Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Bulgarian Presidency) and Simon Mordue (Deputy Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission), with the help of moderator Sean Klein.

DIESIS was appointed as rapporteur of the two workshops that focused on “Tackling discrimination and promoting diversity at the workplace” and “Promoting entrepreneurship among migrants and supporting the social economy”. These workshops touched on aspects of integration that are deeply connected to the EMEN project, in particular with regard to migrant entrepreneurship. Participants pointed out that entrepreneurship, and in particular social entrepreneurship, plays an important role in integration by providing employment and opportunities for migrants. They stressed importance of fostering support schemes for migrants and in particular of focusing on training, coaching, and mentoring.

The forum was also the occasion for the election of EMF board members and we are happy to congratulate Adem Kumcu (UNITEE) for his election to the board as a European civil society representative.

Federico Camporesi of EMEN partner DIESIS attended the event as part of its strategy to increase networking among initiatives promoting entrepreneurship by migrants.

MEGA is a project coordinated by the Migration Policy group, with the support of the Groupe de la recherche et de réalisation pour le dévéloppement rural, the Agence pour la divertsité enrepreneuriale, the City of Munich, the UoG, Formaper (Milan Chamber of Commerce) and Garapen. The project’s goal is to help cities, local and national actors develop policies that promote and support business with an international background. The project aims to identify the opportunities and difficulties that these entrepreneurs may find and help them to face them. The project is creating three tools to do so: best practice handbooks, webinars by experts in the field and policy recommendations.

The event saw the participation of Marie Boscher (DG HOME) who talked about the EU’s role and activities in this field. She recognised that a multilevel approach is fundamental and in this sense the EU is trying to boost migrant entrepreneurship by easing access to funding and promoting policies to help migrants through the whole process. The possibility for migrants to set up a new business symbolises a successful approach to integration.

During the panel discussion, local authority representatives and other stakeholders discussed the future of the migrant entrepreneurship agenda-setting across Europe. All agreed that these new entrepreneurship realities are fundamental for the development of modern cities and to help our cities, regions and countries to become more and more international. Migrant enterprises have an incredible potential, not only because they help the integration of migrants into society, but also because they represent new economic opportunities.

Further information:

MEGA: http://migrant-entrepreneurship.eu/

A public launch on the 7^th attracted about 50 people – from EU institutions and networks, NGOs, chambers of commerce, municipalities and other EU-funded projects for migrant entrepreneurs. We heard about the policy background from Simone Baldissarri of DG Growth, European Commission, and Artur Benedyktowicz of the EASME agency which manages the COSME programme.

The leaders of EMEN’s three communities of practice then explained what they plan to do. Farid Bidardel and Moritz Blanke of Social Impact in Berlin spoke on mentoring, Klaas Molenaar of the Haagse Hogeschool on new types of finance, and Giovanni Collot of UNITEE on professionalising associations of migrant entrepreneurs.

On the next day the project’s launch seminar took place in the offices of Eurochambres. The 12 partner organisations got to know each other, and we all became more familiar with the administrative procedures we shall have to follow.

 A community of practice is a group of people who share a common concern or a passion for something they do, and learn to do it better as they interact regularly” – Etienne Wenger

The main learning activity of the day was a session led by Peter Ramsden on How to run a community of practice. Peter discussed the many activities that CoP members can engage in as they assemble information, share ideas, and perhaps develop joint projects and products.

We debated what ideal size each CoP should be, how to combine distance and physical meetings, where the CoPs should have a core group and a periphery, how to animate the CoP’s members and what web technologies to use. In short – there is a lot to do!

Toby Johnson

Project leader