The migratory flows of recent years, as opposed to those of the first post-war decades, are characterized by:

• the widening of family unity phenomenon, (b) legal and illegal migrants, and (c) the significant number of refugees and asylum-seekers, a number of applications that reaches the 200,000.

The gradual conversion of all 15 European Union countries into immigrant host countries makes migration a common feature of the Member States of the European Union. This, combined with the objective of European integration and the prospect of enlargement of the European Union, is increasingly combined with the need for a European immigration policy.

Immigration in the coming decades will continue to be a key factor in demographic developments, which will help to avoid a decline in the total population of Greece and the other countries of the European Union. Of course, such a prospect is linked to the development of the political socio-economic integration policies of immigrants. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to think that the migratory factor can in the long run meet the long-term needs of the economy in employment, since in such a case very high levels of immigration inflows are required. Read More