Towards an inclusive and smart approach to immigration: The issue of competence recognition - Hacia un enfoque inclusivo e inteligente a la migración: La cuestión del reconocimiento de competencia

The European approach to migration is traditionally characterized by a sort of “schizophrenia”, generated by the attempt to keep together two contradictory philosophies: the “economicistic” philosophy, and that of solidarity and equal opportunities. To overcome this paradox –which has been producing a condition of migrants’ structural disadvantage, while inhibiting the full exploitation of their skills, knowledge and competences (SKC)– a crucial shift must be promoted: from the perception of migrants as a workforce expected to fill contingent vacancies, to the conception of their human capital as a structural resource for economic and social development, in line with a smart and inclusive way to approach immigration. In this perspective, the issue of recognizing migrants’ SKC has both a practical and a symbolic value, as it can contribute to change such a perception. Starting from the findings of the DIVERSE project (supported by the European Commission through the European Integration Fund and carried out in 10 EU countries), the article discusses some characteristics of the current functioning of the national systems of recognition, focusing on migrants as their peculiar target. The discussion is grounded on the cross-country analysis carried out on the documentations and reports produced by each country team on the basis of a multi-situated research conducted (also) on selected regional systems of recognition. The analysis shows many differences among the systems of recognition especially related to: their level of “seniority”, degree of universalism and accessibility, friendliness of procedures’ in relation to migrants. Beyond these results, the analysis reveals that the difficulties faced by a migrant in taking up the SKC recognition opportunities mirrors the inadequacies and shortfalls of those systems, that is, their failure in realising the inclusiveness promise for all citizens. Therefore, the article draws attention on the paradigmatic value of migrants’ experience: developing the systems of SKC recognition giving specific attention to migrants’ needs can not only concur to recast the European approach towards migration and its role in the labour market, but also have profitable outcome on social cohesion, equality, and economic competitiveness.