Immigriation: Threat or Opportunity for the Eu?

In an optimist view, one could see Europe as a flower with the leaves being the variety of European cultures and the centre of the flower representing a unified European identity. However, according to certain critics, we must be careful that this flower will not fade. Important European leaders, for example David Cameron and Angela Merkel, have already pointed out that immigration in Europe has failed. The latter stated in a speech in 2010 that “the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds living happily "side by side" did not work”. However, I believe that it is too easy to use such populist, perhaps even xenophobic, rhetoric in the immigration debate. Therefore, I will argue that immigration should be viewed as an opportunity. However, we should not be blindfolded by naivety.

First of all, if Europe wants to reach the goals set by the Europe2020 growth strategy, namely to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy, we should think about the assets of immigration in this issue. For example, Europe should be a place where bright students from close or far-away countries are welcome to study at our universities. After graduating, many of these students could contribute to our own economy, not only by working here but also by returning to their home country, strengthening mutual trade because of their emotional connection to both parties.

We should also consider the contribution of immigrants to European culture. Besides the obvious examples of lively African music or tasteful Asian food, we could also find an example in the world of sport. In whole Europe, people go to stadiums to see football players from all over the world. A few years ago, football club Beveren played almost exclusively with players from Ivory Coast in the Belgian First Division. Conversely, European values, e.g. the spreading of democracy and human rights, could also indirectly find their way into the countries of origin of immigrants