Following the political landscape in Europe, immigration and integration policies navigated itself to the very surface of the political agendas in Europe. However, such critical issues may show up in different ways, depending on the socio-economic and political landscape conditions, and the extreme of which is “polarisation” if they are ignored and allowed to grow without solutions. It is quite expected in free democracies that such tides, “what to do and what not to do”, can pile-up in strength as they originate from micro-scale market-related insecurities driven by the very base of the society, i.e. the citizen. Sooner or later if not settled and damped down with reasonable solutions find their way to the top of any political agenda anywhere.
Free trade is one of the most debated topics in economics of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century. Arguments over free trade can be divided into economic, moral, and socio-political (arguments.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_debate). However, globalization has forced new debates on how immigration and integration policies should look like on micro-scale socio-economic levels.
With the 21st century new and emerging issues will still give more fuel in the ongoing debate over free trade. Also, the growing importance of sustainability in worldwide politics, i.e. the three pillars of sustainability (economy, social and environment) have to be taken in consideration as well (http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/assets/pdf/Free_Trade_Thrasher.pdf). So, we will be continuously faced with new and emerging needs and constrains what regards “free trade”. This is quite natural as the world is changing on several fronts which is clear from the Paris-2015 climate-change meeting and associated birth of the UN-SDG. These issues are gradually moving towards the center of the political agendas around the world.
Immigration and integration policies along with sustainability will move more and more as central issues for economic and political stabilities, they are also of major importance for bringing about successful sustainable socio-economic developments. In an ever accelerating globalization of the labor-market, and the pressing needs for conservation and protection of the earth’s natural resources, whether the outcome of the REFERENDUM is Yes or No, we will allow struggle with new tides and instabilities.
http://www.theweek.co.uk/eu-referendum
