Balancing Openness and Control: Immigration Policies in Taiwan and Europe

[[abstract]]Like most developed countries, Taiwan and the EU member states are facing demographic and labour market problems. Against the background of an ageing and declining population, immigration could help address labour and skills shortages. The liberalization of immigration policy induced by labour shortages is, however, limited. Most governments want to have a choice with regard to quantity and skills composition. And in times of rising unemployment among domestic workers as a result of the global financial crisis, immigration policies bound to balancing openness and control tend to shift towards the latter and become increasingly selective and security-centric. While governments try to attract highly skilled white-collar workers with rather constricted variations of the American green card, public discourse in Taiwan and the EU focuses on blocking illegal and irregular immigrants and restricting the free flow of cheap labour. In Taiwan this discourse is further influenced by the unique situation in the Taiwan Strait and the public fear of a massive inflow of workers, spouses, and students from the mainland. This article provides some facts on the volume, origin and motives of immigrants to the EU countries and Taiwan and discusses the immigration policies of the EU and Taiwan. Despite rather different geographic and political conditions, the demographic and labour market challenges, as well as opportunities for immigration, are quite similar in Europe and Taiwan