25/11/2008 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“The need for immigration on a continent that experiences a greying of its population, and in many countries a decline in population, should be clearly raised,” said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, at a seminar organised by the committee in Geneva on the “Interaction between population decline in Europe, global population growth and migration”.
“A recent European Union study found that with no immigration, the total population of the EU will fall by 52 million, to around 447 million, by 2050; it also established that the birth rate in the EU was low, on the average 1.5 children per woman,” she added. The participating experts and parliamentarians are expected to provide recent information on demographic trends and on the possible need for immigration, which will contribute to the Assembly report by Gultakin Hajiyeva (Azerbaijan, EPP/CD) on “The demographic future of Europe and migration”.