A Transatlantic Conversation: Managing Migration in the Era of Mobility

As the 2014 Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union works to formulate the European Union’s next five-year program, two interconnected challenges have come to the fore: building a comprehensive migration system whose parts work harmoniously to meet humanitarian obligations and nurture economic growth and social cohesion, and doing so with very limited resources.

 

Europe is not alone in the difficulties it faces in meeting these goals—and in fact shares many of these challenges with the United States.

 

Extraordinary humanitarian events—from the Syrian civil war to the plight of unaccompanied minors to asylum seekers (legitimate and not) who take enormous risks to reach our shores—put serious pressures on both the European Union and the United States. At stake is nothing less than meeting international commitments and promoting the core values that all advanced societies take pride in. At the same time, still-high unemployment and very low economic growth in the European Union and the United States (if less so) undermine economic opportunities for migrants, young people, and other vulnerable groups. And the era of tight public finances continues to constrain the ability of governments to address the critical immigrant integration issues facing societies on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

This transatlantic panel discussion, presented in cooperation with the Greek Embassy, bridges these critical themes and offer ideas on how to manage more effectively the opportunities and responsibilities migration writ large creates.