British and French policies towards high-skilled immigration during the 2000s: policy outplays politics or politics trumps policy?
2013; Routledge; Volume: 37; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01419870.2013.833645
ISSN1466-4356
Autores Tópico(s)Migration, Health and Trauma
ResumoAbstractWithin the context of global competition for human talent, two policy shifts in favour of the promotion of high-skilled immigration (HSI) were observed in the UK and France during the 2000s. In light of similar policy inputs, this article compares the development and implementation of the British Highly Skilled Immigration Programme between 2002 and 2008 and the French Carte de Competences et Talents (Card of Competences and Talents) from 2006 to 2009. This research explores whether there was an overall convergence across these two European countries' policies towards HSI and if they have conformed to a similar client politics model. Whereas this politics model was identified in the UK, a policy gap was observed in France. This article relates the identified divergences with the political agency of the British and French policymakers, while the conclusions argue that politics trumped policy in the two selected cases.Keywords: high-skilled immigrationimmigration policyclient politicsimmigration politicsUKFrance AcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.Notes1. The FN electoral manifesto at the 2002 presidential election included references such as: 'The massive immigration that we endure affects our national identity and consequently France's existence' (Front NationalCitation2001, 26); 'Family reunion: the installation of settlements' and 'Right of asylum and renewable residence authorisation: immigration becomes uncontrollable' (Front NationalCitation2001, 18).2. Jean Marie Le Pen was the leader and founder of the extreme-right party Front National since 1972.3. The PSZ includes countries with which France plans to sign privileged solidarity and sustainable development partnerships: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, South Africa, Suriname, Uganda, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJoão CarvalhoJOÃO CARVALHO is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences (Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Políticas e do Território).
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