Vol. 410 No. 2
17 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress which has been made pursuant to the decision of the EC Summit at Hanover in June 1988 that the Commission undertake a study of the problems of access to the member states and the social integration of immigrants from third countries.
The European Council at Hanover in June 1988 invited Foreign Ministers to agree the terms of reference for a study by the Commission on access to the Community by immigrants and the social integration of immigrants within the Community. In 1989 the Strasbourg European Council called for an "inventory to be prepared of national positions on immigration so that a discussion on this issue within the Council (General Affairs) can be prepared".
As these questions are closely linked, it was decided that the Commission should appoint independent experts to examine the question of integration of immigrants while the Coordinators Group on Free Movement of Persons, in conjunction with the ad hoc Group on Immigration, would study the question of access.
In December 1990 the General Affairs Council discussed the report from the experts appointed by the Commission and from the national experts and it was agreed to request the Commission to undertake further studies to establish means of getting systematic information on migratory flows. I understand that the Commission has not yet finalised its assessment of the studies. These studies will also examine the question of the scope of Article 8a of the EEC Treaty regarding free movement of persons, be they either EC nationals or nationals of third countries.
