ABSTRACT
An increase in migratory flow has generated political debate and moral concern at a time when countries in western Europe, which had been receptive to migration, are experiencing economic recession and rising unemployment. The energy crisis of the 1970s can be identified as the historical moment at which a change took place in attitude towards labour immigration in many countries, a change followed by common and coordinated interventions for members of the European community to restrict immigration flows. With the Schengen agreement of 1990, Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Luxembourg chose to effect more severe immigration control at airports and borders, as a prerequisite for the free circulation of residents within their boundaries. The agreement, translated into national laws on 22 December 1994 in most of these countries (except Italy and Greece), points to a common and restrictive political response to problems of migration. Along the same lines, the Dublin convention of 3 June 1991 established an extension of the rights of host countries in the European Community to deny refugee status to asylum seekers. Furthermore, on 20 June 1994 the Ministers of Internal Affairs of the EU countries approved more restrictive rules for employment of non-EU citizens who, in practical terms, could obtain a job only on the basis of a temporary contract. The political picture summarized above, and specifically the decision to limit the forms that legal immigration can take, has led to an increase in clandestine immigration into the community area.
