Vice-President Suica delivers a speech via video-message for the event titled: “Higher education and social cohesion for the management of international demographic dynamics”, organized by Pegaso International

VP Suica delivers a speech via video-message

Dear ladies and gentlemen, many thanks for inviting me to close such an interesting day of discussions and ideas from so many high-level speakers. I send you all my warmest greetings.

Since we are in Italy, I would like to recall a famous Alessandro Manzoni quote, on altruism: he basically said that we should stop thinking of our own good, because if we thought of the good of the others, we would end up all being better off.

My point is that cooperation with African education institutions is good for them, good for the local development, for their people, but it is also good for us! It is in our own interest!

The underlying rationale is that, due to the current demographic trends, we need migration to help us strengthen our current economic models. We need migrants to fill the vacancies in our labour markets. In a range of sectors from unskilled work to engineering and research. This in turn keeps our competitivity high.

On the other side are the political preferences increasingly expressed by citizens across the European Union. The key to respect the citizens' will while still ensuring that our competitiveness and work force remains robust is to design migration policies that work for our societies. It is to prevent competition between local and foreign workers. To ensure that immigrants can contribute to welfare as they start working in our economy.

And the solution is training: if we need migrants to work in the care sector, with our ageing population, we can better train them to take care of those in need of care, according to our standards and needs. The time of Gastarbeiter is over: migrants are not commodities, that can be placed wherever we need them at our convenience. Migrants are people, just like us. They have histories, linkages, feelings, ambitions, and we need to take all that into account.

If we select people who are interested in working in a sector where we foresee a need, we train them! We attract them here. We provide them with the perspective of building a career that can be continued or replicated when they return back home. Back to the Manzoni quote, instead of thinking only of our own wellbeing, we are doing something good for the others that ends up benefitting us as well!

This is the concept of circular migration the European Commission has been promoting in the last months through the Demography Toolbox and the Talent Partnerships.

By partnering with third countries to provide training to their people, we are fostering the talent (hence the name of “talent partnerships”) that we are going to need in the future, so that we can prepare the future generation of legal migrants and ensure it matches our requirements for a quicker and more effective integration.

At the same time there is a rather distinct issue with migrant children and unaccompanied minors. These are among the most vulnerable people on the planet. The European Union currently hosts some four million people who fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian war of aggression. More than one third of these are children.

Several Member States have reformed and enhanced the capacity of their guardianship systems for unaccompanied minors. Among other initiatives, the European Guardianship Network facilitates the exchange of best practices and helps to address common challenges.

The 2020 Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion, includes several measures that benefit migrant children, especially in the areas of education. In 2021 we adopted the European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the EU Child Guarantee. Both set out key policies and instruments to ensure the protection, and access to key services for children in need, including migrant children.

Investing in these children, protecting and empowering them is our joint responsibility.
It is also an investment in the future of our societies.
And here education is key. We need to harness the opportunities of technology to help us to enhance and increase opportunities. This is especially important when we talk about education and skilling for persons in other parts of the world.

I think we are on the right path, though much still needs to be done. I welcome these opportunities to discuss and exchange and inform. Because these discussions lead to action. So I take this opportunity to encourage each and every one of you to do whatever possible in your domains to translate these words into deeds. It truly concerns every one of us, and everyone should act.

Thank you.