Does Europe Need More Migrants? Discussion with Giles Merritt | #EuropeChats Episode 6

In this special episode of EuropeChats, we are taking a look at the serious issue of migration, with TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos interviewing Giles Merritt on the subject of his book "People Power: Why We Need More Migrants".

The flaws of the Dublin system having been laid bare by the Refugee Crisis of the mid-2010s, migration has shot to the forefront of EU debate. In Hungary, government rhetoric during the crisis shifted dramatically towards fearmongering immigration, and a crisis was caused with Croatia and the EU when Hungary closed its southern border. But it isn't only in Hungary that migration has caused controversy: in the United Kingdom, migration took center-stage in the Brexit debate, and in Bulgaria, since 2014 a fence has been erected along the Turkish border to reduce immigration. The story is much the same across the rest of Europe: migration has become the chief political hot-potato in the EU.

While some see the influx of economic migrants and refugees as a threat, others advocate in favour of migration in the interests of the European Union both economically and socially. One of those people is Giles Merritt, a journalist, author and broadcaster who has for over four decades specialised in European public policy questions. In 2010 he was named by the Financial Times as one of its 30 most influential “Eurostars”, together with the European Commission’s President and NATO’s Secretary General. Merritt is the Founder of Friends of Europe, and was its Secretary General between 1999 and 2015, and its Chairman between 2016 and 2020.

We're discussing these topics and many more, so check it out!

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EuropeChats is TEPSA’s new talk show dedicated to answering your questions about the European Union.

If you ever wondered what competences the EU has, what effects its policies have on your day-to-day life, and why the EU is so important, then this show will give you all the answers you need! Every episode, Jim Cloos, TEPSA Secretary-General will be answering your questions about Europe and the EU.

Jim Cloos is TEPSA’s Secretary-General, and has spent a lifetime in the heart of Brussels. As the former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, he was involved in European decision-making at every level. He had a key role in drafting the Maastricht Treaty during the Luxembourgish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1991, and has an intricate expertise on EU Affairs and the internal functioning of the European institutions. There is no-one better placed to answer any question about Europe that you might have.

Music: Worakls, 22 September 2014, Salzburg, Hungry music

This video is co-funded by the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Union

[beebookworm]

Interesting arguments, but it does rather assume that after Covid-19, we go back to 'business as usual' economic models, and the continued growth of human population ; neither are sustainanable in their present form, and climate change is going to trigger massive population upheaval ( to avoid being drowned, or ironically, in a search for drinking water ), so a rethink on managing human population as a whole needs to be done - wider than the parameters of the book under discussion, I realise, but perhaps it could be inculcated in future talks ?

[arisplugis]

it depends what you understand with Europe. i guess.