2018 Vol. 10 №3

We analyse European Commission and European Parliament documents — directives, communications, conclusions, recommendations — and best practices for EU member states’ international projects focusing on migrant integration in both the EU states and the countries of origin. Special emphasis is placed on the role of diasporas and the efforts taken by the EU to involve them in the integration process. We stress the need for a new supranational EU immigration and integration policy, in view of new migration trends and the so-called migrant crisis. The study shows that the EU integration policy is directed towards both migrants and host countries and the countries of origin. Since the early 2010s, the involvement of various diaspora organisations in the implementation of the EU migrant integration policy has significantly increased. An analysis of completed projects shows that diasporas have a potential of becoming a key actor in the EU integration policy. We suggest expanding the list of the objectives of the national integration policy of the EU countries. This may be achieved by boosting efforts to reduce the gap in the socio-economic development of the host countries and the countries of origin, particularly, by promoting multilateral cooperation with diaspora organisations.

This article is a further contribution to the discourse of ethnic ‘diffusion’ in European countries. The debate started on the pages of the Baltic Region journal by three authors — Yu. N. Gladky, I. Yu. Gladky, and K. Yu. Eidemiller [4]. We assume that Europe has been a major centre of attraction for immigrants in recent decades and a site for the rapid emergence of ethnic communities. Unlike Muslim immigration, a product of the Arab Spring and often a measure of last resort, Chinese immigration is a result of a certain convergence between the ideologies of the host countries, committed to multiculturalism, and the country of origin pursuing a ‘go global’ policy. We chose the EU countries as a ‘demonstration site’ and the Chinese diaspora as the object of research. Our aim is to describe the process of migration from China and the formation of a Chinese diaspora in European countries. We analyse the timeline and the scope of Chinese immigration, qualitative changes in the composition of immigrants, factors affecting the choice of the country of entry, and the quantitative parameters and settlement patterns of today’s Chinese diaspora in the region. We suggest grouping the EU Countries by the number and ‘age’ of their Chinese diasporas. We consider ethnic ‘diffusion’ as part of the ‘European project’ within Beijing’s global strategy.