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The article describes the current demographic situation and migration trends in Europe. It discusses the conceptual and empirical gaps resulting from the use of different criteria to categorize foreigners. The recent and foreseeable impact of Eu enlargement and the potential for further East-West migration within Europe are considered, along with the growing level of immigration to Southern Europe. The article draws attention to the fact that integration of non-Eu nationals has become a key subject of concern across Europe, and national policies are being adapted in response: with regard to integration the article examines the evolutions in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. Lastly, common Eu policies on migration and frontier management, asylum seekers and family reunification are also discussed.

The paper examines the main evolutions in international migrations in Oecd countries, whose flows have been profoundly modified by important geopolitical events which marked the beginning of the third millennium and the end of the previous one. Along side the persistence of traditional migrations, new migratory currents emerge. Starting out from this analysis, the authors identify some of the future challenges, especially regarding the international mobility of workforce - particularly highly qualified personnel - and the integration of foreign or migrant workers in the labour market. Migratory policies must respond to this situation in order to satisfy labour market requirements and at the same time adhere to international and humanitarian commitments.

The paper analyses and discusses how international migratory flows are conditioned by broader politico-economic dynamics. Neither poverty nor unemployment are sufficient conditions to understand migratory flows. Focus is placed on three types of economic conditions which can induce individuals to emigrate: structural conditions related to the types of relations determined by economic internationalisation in its various configurations (old colonial forms or recent neocolonial forms, particular types of relations as a result of current forms of economic globalisation); direct recruitment of immigrant workers by employers, or governments on their behalf, or through the immigrant network; trafficking of men, women and children in an increasing context of illegality.

The paper analyses the main aspects of Law No. 189/2002 - known as the «Bossi-Fini Law» 0150 with reference to innovations in immigration due to labour migration. A comparative analysis of the main European countries is conducted and special attention is given to the Eu policies that are developing, based on new attributions to the Eu from the Amsterdam Treaty. The interpretation key adopted highlights a methodological defect of the recent italian reform of immigration for labour migration. In particular, the italian reform exceeds in its political significance and is poor in legislative substance. As a result its interpretation and application are prone to distortion, furthermore, emphasis is placed on the less innovative and/or more regressive positions of the community policy under definition.

Italian migratory policies represent a highly controversial policy as opposing, polarised reform proposals are often put forward. There is thus the widespread impression that this matter has been characterised by considerable discontinuity in the last decades. This paper shows how Italian migratory policy choices have been characterised by long term discontinuity focussed on two crucial points: the absence of a realistic policy for entries and of a stabilisation policy for the foreign population already present in the country. From the very beginning Italian migratory policy has been characterised by the systematic use of expost legalisation and the management of the foreign population which protracted the phase of initial precariousness. If reforms of migratory legislation have progressively increased the technical efficacy of repressive norms, such an effort hasn’t produced a greater capacity to manage the phenomenon.

The rise in flows of asylum seekers from the 90s onwards has led Europe to redefine the protection sanctioned in the post war years at the international level, adopting status recognition procedures which allow the principles/symbols to remain intact while modifying (or limiting) the contents. The legislative evolution in Italy follows the same pattern: while attempts to adopt a complete immigration and asylum act struggle to take off, in Italy the matter is partially regulated, in its procedural aspects, by the «Martelli Law», extensively reformed in 2002 with the «Bossi-Fini Law». The paper outlines the fundamental legislative passages, taking into consideration also the draft law under discussion in Parliament, the executory rule which requires approval for the coming into effect of modifications due to the «Bossi-Fini Law» on asylum, and the risks of unconstitutionality derived by the latent conflict between legitimate worries to curb clandestine immigration and the duty to protect those who flee from persecutions in their own country.

The article draws on the recent regularisation to illustrate the importance of ethnic networks in insertion processes of immigrant workers. It is claimed that the importance of migratory networks is exalted by the reluctance of public policies for immigration management and by trends in the contemporary labour market. From this consideration, forms of «ethnic specialisation» are derived, which should not always be interpreted negatively as the alternative would be even more serious forms of social exclusion of immigrant workers. Finally, it illustrates network construction and ethical identification phenomena as the outcome of social construction processes in which endogenous dynamics of immigrant populations come up against stereotypes and prejudices of the host society, producing reciprocal reinforcement effects.

The incidence of immigrants on Italian population is still slight compared with other European countries and is far below the Eu average, yet there has been a considerable rise in recent years. The paper analyses the composition of the immigrant population and the transformations that took place due to the latest regularisation sanctioned by the «Bossi-Fini Law». The authors analyse the changes that have occurred in this context, in particular, the shift in the geographic axis of migrations - with an increase in immigration from Eastern countries, the considerable growth in female immigration, the rise in immigrant stabilisation processes in Italian society, evident, above all, in the labour market.

The paper analyses the migratory situation in Italy from a gender perspective, considered important not only because it is significant numerically but also due to the particular forms and modalities it has taken on over the decades. Immigrant women are present in all Italian regions although their situation has modified in relation to the changing characteristics of migratory flows over the years. The author analyses the various strategies and trajectories that have guided and still guide women in their decision to immigrate to our country. Indeed how the women have arrived in the country, their motives for leaving the homeland and their migratory projects have conditioned integration in the new context.

Law No. 189/02 represented an opportunity for immigrant work to come out into the open and be regularised. It has been successful, well beyond the intentions of the promoters, as the measure was supposed to concentrate on service jobs but, instead, it also involved subordinate workers in enterprises (Law No.222/02). This legislative intervention allowed a more accurate assessment of how migrants workers, both regular and hidden, are now an essential and structural factor of a large part of the productive sector. Reflections on these matters are outlined in this paper, contributing to the development of the discussion on the issue by proposing a reinterpretation of different phases of migratory flows in our country and considering the various relationships between immigration and work precariousness in each period.

The article proposes an analysis of the impact of the Italian system for the regulation of migratory flows on corporate recruitment choices, referring to the results of a research on the building, health and Ict sectors. The inquiry, developed within an international project, examines migratory flows from the singular viewpoint of labour demand, namely the enterprises. The regulation system and quota restrictions of migratory flows influences the strategic choices of enterprises which use non-Eu labour force, thus influencing migratory movements.

According to the latest «Monitoring of Job Services» carried out by Isfol there are over 260,000 non-Eu workers registered at the Employment Centres (Cpi) at a rate of 6.5% at the national level but with peaks of up to 30% in some provinces. The stability and size of immigrant communities in Italy have thus led to their progressive use of public services. However these clients often make requests which are not strictly related to the labour market so that specific skills and professional figures are now required.

The economic and demographic contribution of immigration to the Eu can have consequences on social protection regimes. It is thus necessary to examine both the positive aspects of the system and levels of protection truly given to such workers especially regarding the principles of equal treatment and compliance of acquired statutory rights (under adoption). Contrary to what some may be inclined to believe, available studies, albeit partial, highlight the persistence of serious inequalities in the protection of immigrants. In Italy the phenomenon of immigration is relatively recent but it is not sufficient to justify the delays and shortcomings registered in the initiation of active policies for the stipulation of bilateral agreements on social security and major international obligations. It is evident that building partnerships with the countries of origin is fundamental not only to combat illegal immigration but also to reinforce cooperation policies, contribute to the consolidation of local social security systems and thus improve social protection conditions for all residents.

The paper analyses the level of preparation of the local welfare system targeted at immigrants, focusing specifically on the social requirements of foreign citizens as well as the chance to achieve integration. On the basis of the experience acquired by the city council of Reggio Emilia, some characteristics of the intervention system aimed at the integration of immigrants are outlined.

The «Bossi-Fini» law has brought to the fore the issue of domestic and care workers, one of the most important aspects of immigration in Italy. The most appropriate stance to take on this matter is debated in this paper. The author puts forward some proposals, weighing up the pros and cons.

Faced with the progressive ageing of the population, of which Italy has the world primacy, this paper examines the opportunity and urgency of concrete solutions to the requirement for reorganisation and consolidation of services/benefits for dependent persons. Possible solutions are prospected: prevention but also setting up a fund for dependent persons in order to curb the inevitable and realistic rise in social and health spending, the preparation, training and in general protection of the delicate care work performed by family members, care workers and service operators who look after dependent persons. A constant balance between quantitative increase and quality guarantees needs to be maintained and controlled by the public authorities.

Epidemiological data are not sufficient to describe and explain the health conditions of the immigrant population living in Italy with or without an official stay permit. Present information flows are numerous but insufficient and inadequate, lacking any connection with the survey of socio-demographic data and the needs of some groups of users who are in particularly vulnerable conditions. Through the results of a study conducted on data of the Social Information System of the Caritas Diocesana of Rome, the necessity to support and promote the creation of integrated socio-health information systems clearly emerges.

By discussing a comparative study of Chinese and Egyptian immigrant entrepreneurs in Milan, this article highlights how these individuals and their support networks can chart a number of different routes to reach their goals of social empowerment and economic stability, enacting diverse strategies according to the opportunity structure and the specific set of resources they are able to access, crossing the borders of the enclave economy, exploiting economic niches and creating new markets well beyond the limits of ethnic business.

In 2001 and 2002 two sample surveys were carried out in Rome on the integration of five immigrant communities: Albanians, Filipinos, Moroccans, Peruvians and Romanians. The study demonstrated very different immigrant situations. The article presents the results of these surveys on the «immaterial» component of integration, focussing on the relational behaviours of the respondents. From this perspective substantial differences emerge at the collective rather than individual level. Furthermore, the multiplicity of migratory models pursued by the various communities has a corresponding complex pattern of relational models.

The paper examines the integration of Senegalese immigrants in factories in the territory of Bergamo given the local entrepreneurial class’s positive perception of these workers. Along side processes of convergence and interchange between enterprises and Senegalese workers at the production level, there are also ethical and symbolic connotations of employment which have drawn together these two actors. The existential commitment stemming from the young immigrants’ background, combined with their particular Islamic creed centred on work and toil are in harmony with the elderly local industrialists’ vision of work thus bringing about a sort of «intergenerational» identification.

The author considers the term «migrant» to discuss the possibility and legitimacy of defining immigrants solely on the basis of a static cultural affiliation. The logic of alien worlds that meet, or clash, doesn’t help to settle problems that emerge from day to day relations. The construction of individual or group identity is a process that comes up against the complexity of the modern world, as discerned from migrants’ testimonies: stratified and changeable identities, aspirations and dreams that transcend both the traditional world of the homeland and the mass culture of industrialised countries.