ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the issue of immigrants' permanent settlement into the wider European context and investigates the European Community's competence regarding third-country nationals. It considers the institutional and policy influence of the European Community on migration. The Final Act of the Maastricht Treaty contains declarations of which one is relevant to immigration/integration policies. The European Parliament considers that a common immigration policy should comply with the rules of parliamentary democracy and wants the Parliament's role to be strengthened to the extent that the immigration issue is made a matter for the Community, which it hopes will soon happen. Inclusion in general is, thus, still a matter dealt with on the national level, and despite a limited degree of convergence of national immigration policies, there remains great divergence. The most important article with regard to immigration matters is Article K which is made up of Title VI Provisions on Co-operation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs.
