ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a state to abandon state support for immigrant integration. It presents integration policies and measures that have been in place in these three EU member states before the implementation of state-run integration programmes for newcomers. From the 1970s until the 1990s, the Netherlands pursued a multicultural integration policy that supported ethnic groups in setting up their own organisations. According to the French Republican model, the acquisition of citizenship is the main mechanism for the integration of immigrants. With the new Immigration Act of 2005, Germany also started to offer an integration programme to newly arrived immigrants. Today, potential immigrants from third countries have to acquire relevant linguistic skills and knowledge about the host society before they immigrate. To some extent Germany has been the European precursor in establishing a nexus between immigration and integration.
