Migration paradigm in Germany in 2000s: change of priorities

The given paper touches upon the problem of German migration policy in contemporary period. The on-going processes allow us to conclude that the German migration paradigm has been changing as well as one of the most successful states in the European Union and as a state endowed with the greatest peace load after the crisis of 2008. The study gives the main qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the German migration policy in the 2000s. First of all, it is characterized by changes in the geography of migration flows. In  2004, with ten new countries entering the EU, the inflow of migrants from Eastern Europe countries began to increase. During this period, the number of immigrants from Poland has almost doubled. After Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU, the number of people from these countries also increased by more than three times. At the period of 2008 crisis, the inflow of migrants from Italy, Spain, Greece and the Balkan countries intensified; the number of migrants from Croatirapidly increasedafter this country joined the EU in 2013. The author analyzes the qualitative composition of migrants and concludes that, from the beginning of the 21st century, the working migration,  having dominated for many decades, is gradually changing in favor of skilled workers’ migration. The important role of universities in order to attract highly qualified specialists is substantiated. The migration impact on the labor market is studied with a special attention. It is due to the fact that, when arriving in the country and getting the opportunity to apply skills and realize their human capital, a migrant becomes a kind of investor in the hosting country economy, contributing to its growth. One of its main advantages is that, already having a certain set of knowledge and skills (the hosting country does not need to pay for his education), he can generate new knowledge, create innovations, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the recipient country economy. Germany has a policy of attracting highly qualified migrants to the country. The paper touches upon the innovations in the migration policy of Germany in the 21st  century. A “Blue Card” has been introduced for highly qualified professionals in accordance with the EU directive and labor market regulation has been changed. The need to reduce the number of legal restrictions for migrants from third countries, and to improve attitudes towards migrants, despite the failure of the multiculturalism policy, is indicated too. There are still many obstacles to immigrants’active participation in the labor market, such language difficulties, differences in educational systems, and lack of information about vacancies.