Modern Migration Policy in Germany

In the course of the first phase of the German migration policy (1945-1954), the implementation of human rights norms after 1945 (e.g. the creation of the basic right to asylum and the law on the legal status of homeless aliens) was examined. However, there were no effective standards and no comprehensive or systematic immigration policy in post-war Germany with regard to the German economic miracle.

2.2 Phase 2: Recruitment policy for guest workers 1955-1973

The second phase of the federal migration policy, which is referred to as the so-called Europe-wide "recruitment period" or "guest worker period", can be scheduled between 1955 and 1973. It was characterized by labor migration, that is to say, targeted recruitment agreements, or by the government of flanked recruitment of foreign workers in southern and south-eastern European countries. As a backdrop of this recruitment policy, the enormous expansion of the German labor market in the sign of an "economic miracle" and a rising need primarily for cheap labor in the untrained and leeches of the industrial labor market can be seen. In this case, the decreasing interest of domestic workers at certain (Heavy and dirty work, chord wage, shift system and serial production forms with low qualification requirements), which has become increasingly unattractive for local workers. Thomas Bauer and Klaus (1997) F. Zimmermann Network Migration of Ethnic Germans

The Federal Republic tried to set up a new paradigm of migration policy, the so-called guest worker system according to the principle of rotation: guests on time, who return to their countries of origin and are replaced by new guest workers. The employment of foreigners should therefore be a temporary phenomenon and the guest workers should assume an important economic replacement and buffer function in the industry. In December 1955, a first recruitment agreement was concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy. Subsequently, the history of labor migration began in the middle of the 1950s in the Federal Republic. However, this change in the initial phase of the guest workers' era has not yet been extensively used in German migration systems or migration policy processes. For there was still the strong immigration from the GDR, with which the growing demand of the federal labor market was covered. This influx of refugees or emigrants from the GDR ended abruptly only after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, so the situation changed.

As early as the mid-1950s, the West German economy benefited from steady immigration from the GDR and East Germany, but there was a growing need for labor. In certain West German labor markets, particularly agriculture and construction, foreign workers were needed despite the still high unemployment (about 7-10% in 1955). It is noteworthy here that federal recruitment policies were not due to a general labor deficit, but because of the specific shortage situation in some sectors of the federal economy. At the beginning of the 1960s, full employment in the labor market was also achieved in the Federal Republic. In 1960, for the first time since 1945, the number of vacancies was higher than the number of unemployed. Since, in addition, the influx of migrants and refugees from the GDR did not occur with the Wall in 1961, recruitment agreements for the recruitment of foreign workers for the federal labor market were largely strengthened, with the result that guest workers had compensated the labor deficit. It was only with the 1960s that the actual period of work began. The Federal Government concluded further recruitment agreements with Spain and Greece (1960), Turkey (1961), Morocco (1963), Portugal (1964), Tunisia (1965), Yugoslavia (1968) and most recently with South Korea (1970). However, recruitment from Morocco and Tunisia remained relatively ineffective for the German labor market. The highest rates of foreigners in this period were, for example, in the construction, mining and iron industries.

Table 2 : Recruitment Agreement for the Federal Republic of Germany

In 1955 there were about 79,000 (0.4%) foreign workers in the Federal Republic, while in 1961, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, it was about 549,000 (2.5%). The number of labor migrants rose rapidly in the period to come and reached its peak in 1969 with 2.6 million (11.9%). The substantial immigration of migrants from European and non-European countries led to an overall increase in the foreigners' rate from 1.2% (1961) to 6.4% (1973). In total, there were 14 million foreigners in the Federal Republic between 1955 and 1973, of which 11 million returned in the same period. During this period, migrant workers from Turkey (605,000), from Yugoslavia (535,000) and from Italy (450,000) were the largest migrant groups. Andreyuk V.Y. - The immigration policy of Germany by the example of the Turkish labor force in the 60-80-ies. XX century.

Thus the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR were more concerned with questions of labor market policy in certain areas. In view of this great advantage of the foreigners for the German national economy was introduced in the FRG "the Auslдndergesetz of April 1965", which above all permits a right of residence and work permit for foreigners from non-EEC countries. On the other hand, workers from EEC countries, such as Italians and Spaniards, should be accorded equal status to German workers. However, the establishment of the guest workers in the FRG was not intended at this stage, but merely a temporary stay. The majority of the guest workers initially received the right to reside according to the rotation concept for only one year, whereby their lives were essentially influenced by the work or the respective employer in Germany. The aliens law of 1965 also enshrined the asylum law. The law was an effective instrument with which the FRG actually wanted to achieve control of the population and a liberalization of the post-war period. In addition, the FRG created further political paradigms. The unification of Europe and the economic liberalization was the focus, which also led to the europeanization. Power Resources and Immigration Policy Regimes in Germany after World War II. A Afonso - the 23rd International Conference of Europeanists, 2016

When the first economic recession began in 1966/67, the number of unemployed was halted at short notice in the catering sector (1970-1973). However, the economy recovered rapidly and continued its growth path. However, the second economic recession, which took place due to the so-called 'oil price crisis', was a marked break in this development. Once again, the numbers of unemployed rose, and at the same time many foreign workers became unemployed. Thus in 1973 they represented 273,000 - 1.2% of the officially registered unemployed. Accordingly, on 23 November 1973, the Federal Government announced a Europe-wide "recruitment stop" for guest workers. As a result of the oil crisis and rising unemployment, the second phase of the so-called "guest worker period" or recruitment policy ended with this recruitment stop.

All in all, it is clear that the recruitment policy or the German guest worker system was based on the assumption of steady economic growth with a corresponding labor force requirement on the one hand and a labor market regulated and regulated by the state on the other. From this it can be seen that in the second phase (1955-1973) the recruitment policy or the guest workers' policy on the one hand led to a comprehensive change of the policy paradigm, the ideas and principles of the migratory policy action, but on the other hand led to not long term policy change of the immigration processes.

2.3 Phase 3: Consolidation and integration policy 1974-1980

The third phase of the German immigration policy (1974-1980) was characterized by the consequences of the 1973's arrest strike and can be described as a phase of "consolidation of foreigners' employment" and also of a first integration policy for foreign families. The political decisions of this consolidation and integration phase triggered a process of establishing foreign workers and their families in the Federal Republic. The immigration policy guideline of the Federal Republic since 1974 was called "integration yes - immigration no". In addition, the migration policy of the federal government pursued a clear double strategy during this phase: this involved on the one hand the limitation of the immigration of other foreigners and on the other hand the tightening up of foreigners already living here.

In connection with the 1974 deadline regulation, the Federal Government implemented two measures of migration policy, which, however, were quite contradictory. On the one hand, with the amendment of the Kindergeldgesetz of 1 January 1975, higher rates of child allowances were also permitted for foreign children. However, this only applied to those who lived according to the principle of "territoriality" in the Federal Republic. This, however, led to the sharp increase in foreigners' children who were caught up in the FRG. In addition, the work permit regulation stipulated that foreign workers who had been admitted to the FRG after 1974 and had lost their jobs did not receive any work permits. This scheme was replaced by a waiting period in 1980/1981: waiting times for family members (children two, spouses four years) were applied before a work permit was granted. Labor migration was therefore increasingly difficult. On the other hand, as a further political measure, the government introduced an "immigration block" for foreigners in 1975 in order to tackle the problems of the regional concentration of foreigners and to protect "overburdened settlements from ghetto formation". However, this control measure was repealed on the basis of the 1977 EC agreements.

To deal with the negative development or conceptlessness of the migration policy recognizable by these two examples, the then SPD / FDP coalition government governed by Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in 1978 proclaimed the introduction of the office of alien commissioner as one of the most important institutional innovations. The former Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Heinz Kьhn (SPD), was named the first foreigner commissioner of the federal government. In September 1979, Kьhn presented his memorandum on the "Status and development of the integration of foreign workers and their families in the Federal Republic of Germany". The central demand of the "KьhnMemorandum" was a consistent integration policy and thus a move away from the labor market policy priority: "recognition of the factual immigration with simultaneous exclusion of new immigration; Increased efforts to integrate foreign children and young people, especially in the school sector; No 'segregating' measures - such as separate teaching by nationality; Extending the full legal entitlement of foreign young people to access to work and training places; The option rights of young people born and growing up in the Federal Republic to naturalization; Granting of municipal suffrage for foreigners after a long stay.

Thus Kьhn demanded in his memorandum, "finally accept the factual immigration situation of guest workers of the second generation also politically." Although the Kьhn memorandum caused a turn in the political debate about a new orientation of the migration policy and also met a relatively broad one debate on the topic of integration, but was not taken into account by the decision of the Federal Government of 1980 on the "further development of foreigner policy". Above all the municipal suffrage for foreigners and the naturalization facilities for foreign youths were rejected. Instead, the SPD / FDP coalition coalition government adhered to an immigration policy or labor market policy, which was supplemented by integration concepts. R Munz, R Ulrich - Changing patterns of immigration to Germany 1945-1995: ethnic origins demographic structure future prospects.

In the meantime, the proportion of the foreign population rose: in 1979, the total number of foreigners living in the FRG grew to 4.1 million, while foreign workers had declined to 1.9 million. By the end of the 1970s a large number of foreign persons had settled in the FRG. Thus, integration into the migration policy discourse became a primary objective. According to state institutions, the integration of foreign families by means of political administration measures, such as measures for occupational and social integration (MBSE), has been understood by integration. "With this understanding, the federal government has for the first time introduced" language courses "for unemployed foreigners Young people to promote vocational integration. These language courses were further developed in 1980 to include integration programs, the so-called MBSE. S Braun, M Kvasnicka - Journal of International Economics, 2014 - Immigration and structural change: Evidence from post-war Germany

The third phase shows that it becomes clear that a partial policy change took place in the phase. While important migration policy decisions were made regarding the institutionalization (e.g. Federal Foreigners' Commissioners and language courses for foreigners), however, there was no policy change to recognize the actual immigration situation, as the failure of the Kuhn memorandum showed.

2.4 Phase 4: Limiting policy as the turning point of migration policy 1981-1990

2.5 Phase 5: Focus on asylum policy 1991-1997

The fifth phase of German migration policy began with the entry into force of the new Foreigners' Act on 1 January 1991 and lasted until 1997, during the reign of Chancellor Kohl Kohl. The official guidelines of this phase were the continuation of the migration policy of the 1970s and 1980s: 1. Germany as a non-immigration country. 2. National primacy in the labor market. 3. The integration of long-term migrants while at the same time limiting the influx of third-country nationals. This phase has also been increasingly characterized by the highly complex new immigration situation since the German unification and the military conflicts on the European continent since the Second World War, as well as the sharp increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers.

Already since the end of the 1980s, the immigration of refugees to Western Europe had concentrated strongly on the Federal Republic. While almost 1.8 million refugees applied for political asylum in Germany between 1990 and 1998, there were clearly fewer refugees in the Western European countries: in Great Britain there were 405,589 refugees, 282,896 in the Netherlands, 267,332 in France, 236.654 in Switzerland and 233.823 in Sweden . This situation was mainly caused by the civil war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990s and later in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Subsequently many refugees were supported by the Western European countries, especially Germany. In Germany, the so-called civil war refugees from former Yugoslavia have been given a new refugee status; In 1992, 300,000 civil war refugees came from these areas. With this refugee status, the federal government's refugee policy created the basis of legitimacy for the Bundeswehr's first peacekeeping mission in the history of the Federal Republic within the framework of the UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and the first participation in a NATO military intervention in Kosovo. This policy was a consequence of the huge number of refugees and asylum seekers in Germany. Compared to the early 1980s, Germany 's migration structure had changed considerably in the 1990s, with the majority consisting of refugees, which in turn consisted of different groups Manifold legal status.

Table 4: Refugee groups in Germany between 1992 and 1998

Between 1987 and 1993, the number of refugees legally residing in Germany grew from about 700,000 to about 1.9 million. Of these, the so-called "de facto refugees" were the largest group whose application for political asylum had been rejected or who had not submitted an asylum application, but which were presumed to have political or religious persecution in their home country, , but they should not become permanently asylum seekers. In addition, Jewish emigrants from the former Soviet Union and so-called "contingent refugees" took part in humanitarian relief activities in Germany, for example so-called "boat-people" from Vietnam. In addition to these events, the number of European asylum seekers, particularly those from Turkey, increased in the first half of the 1990s. This was caused by the political and ethnic situation of the Kurds in the south-east of Turkey, but these were generally not given the right to asylum. In particular the deportation of Kurds became the subject of political debates on the right of asylum. From these contradictions, or from this asylum case on the criteria of the narrowly defined concept of political persecution, new forms of civilian protest have arisen, in particular regarding the granting of the so-called "church asylum" for such asylum seekers whose application for asylum was rejected. This initiative pointed to the gap between legal definition and reality political persecution. It was the ethnic and political conflicts in Europe that rapidly increased the number of refugees and asylum seekers. In the course of the 1990s, however, the number of refugees and asylum seekers was reduced again as a result of the decline in newly filed applications for asylum following the amendment of the asylum law in 1993 and the return of numerous civil war refugees from ex-Yugoslavia. S Bulmer, W Paterson - 2014 - The Federal Republic of Germany and the European Community

The asylum compromise thus intensified the process of political asylum by the newly introduced Article 16a of the Basic Law and entered into force on 1 July 1993. The impact of the new asylum law, that is, the amendment of the fundamental right to asylum in 1993, was in spite of severe criticism. Above all, the number of asylum seekers fell drastically. To that extent, the provisions on the limited admission of foreign workers in the context of this "asylum compromise" of 1992/93, which, after the 1973 arrest, allowed new forms of labor migration. This means that working migrants (eg "contract workers", "guest workers", "seasonal workers") have a restricted legal status of residence, however, under special circumstances (eg adult individuals, usually with vocational training completed but not their family members) and had very close access to the labor market. The Federal Government also passed the 1993 "Asylum Procedure Law" and the "Asylum Seekers Act", which excluded unauthorized refugees from the protection of the so-called "Bundessozialhilfegesetz" (BSHG) and were classified into a new social benefit system with a reduced subsistence level. These laws, which were drafted in 1993, still serve as the basis for asylum law in Germany after they were expanded with further improvements, later by the Immigration Act (2005) and the amendment of the Immigration Act 2007 (the so-called "EU Directive Implementation Act") . In a tight sequence, the so-called "governance system" was introduced in June 1993 for the former GDR contract workers (for example, the group of Vietnamese workers), which in reality did not mean a permanent right of residence, but a limited right of residence.

In the second half of the 1990s, the Federal Government decided on several migratory policies, such as the Deportation Agreement for Vietnamese (from the former GDR), the Act on the Establishment of a Provisional Residence for Spдtaussiedler (1996), amendments to the Auslдndergesetz Which has facilitated both naturalization and family reunification, and the regulation on the visa and residence permit for minors from non-EU countries, the so-called "children's visa" of 1997. Despite these migration policy laws and regulations, the central problems of migration policy, especially the integration, remained unresolved under the then CDU / CSU / FDP coalition. There was only a "market-oriented" model of integration in the Welfare State of the Federal Republic of Germany, which favored EU citizens and disadvantaged non-EU citizens, especially turkish migrant workers.

In conclusion, the German migration policy in the fifth phase (1991-1997) was considered restrictive in the asylum policy area. It is noteworthy that in this phase, compared to the 1980s, there were many migratory policy restrictive laws and the change in the basic legislation on asylum in the "Asylkompromiss" of 1993. Overall, the policy of the CDU / CSU / FDP government coalition in the 1990s could be seen as a limited policy change without a paradigm shift.

2.6 Phase 6: Nationality Reform and Immigration Act 1998-2004

3. New immigration and integration policy 2005-2016

With the entry into force of the Immigration Act on 1 January 2005, the seventh phase of the German migration policy, which continues into the present, began. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Immigration Act 2005 introduced a new and fundamental change in the legislation on aliens and asylum in the Federal Republic of Germany for the first time.. Legislation thus reintroduced the historically evolved tradition of the more restrictive, old migration policy. At the same time, the law led to clear changes and simplifications to the old legal situation. M Berry, I Garcia-Blanco, K Moore - 2016 - Press coverage of the refugee and migrant crisis in the EU: a content analysis of five European countries

Before and after the entry into force of the Immigration Act 2005, there was also a heated debate, especially the anti-discrimination, which had an important influence on the integration policy. The Federal Government had been obliged to do so by four EU equal treatment directives. As early as the beginning of December 2001, the then red-green federal government presented a bill for an anti-discrimination law. The draft anti-discrimination law went beyond the EU directives, in particular in civil law, which prescribe a prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic origin and gender. In labor law, too, comprehensive protection against "discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, belief and religion" should be anchored. However, the first draft met with considerable criticism, especially among economic associations and opposition parties. On 6 May 2004, the SPD and Bьndnisgrьne governmental parties presented the second "draft law on the protection against discrimination (anti-discrimination law - ADG) to the Bundestag. After long and controversial political processes, the Anti-Discrimination Act entered into force on 18 August 2006. S Lavenex - 2001 - The Europeanisation of refugee policies: between human rights and internal securityMeanwhile, in August 2004, the EU Commission announced a criminal case against Germany and four other EU member states before the European Court of Justice, since the implementation of EU anti-discrimination directives had been implemented in the national courts until 19 July 2003 and 31 December 2003 respectively Right. The ADG, which has entered into force, is not clearly behind the requirements of the EU directives in the area of ??employment law, for example in the area of ??employment protection, at central points. However, the ADG as a whole is assessed as a successful instrument for the most effective and comprehensive discrimination protection possible. B Dietz - 1999 - Ethnic German Immigration from Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union to Germany: The Effects of Migrant Network

The seventh phase of the German migration policy began essentially after the change of government in November 2005, in the 16th legislative period (2005 to 2009). The CDU / CSU / SPD federal government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) declared the issue of "integration" as a priority task within the migration policy, which first created the position of the first Minister of State for Integration and Migration in the Federal Chancellery and Prof. Dr. Maria Bцhmer (CDU) was appointed as the Federal Integration Commissioner. G Zincone, R Penninx, M Borkert - 2011 Migration policymaking in Europe: the dynamics of actors and contexts in past and presentThe first accent on her new integration policy was the Federal Government's first "so-called" integration summit "in Berlin's Chancellery on July 14, 2006, and a first" German Islam Conference "(DIK ). The goal of the integration summit was a novel dialogue with migrants and the development of a "National Integration Plan". Also with the DIK, the government achieved a multi-year dialogue with Muslims about improved religious and societal integration in Germany. With these first initiatives, the Federal Government strengthened the integration policy under the motto "promote and demand". On 10 April 2008, the ministers and senators of the federal states responsible for integration decided to integrate "integration monitoring". Integration plans was established to monitor the integration measures and integration processes after the naturalization of the immigrants in the official statistics and to evaluate their effectiveness. It is important here to understand how countries, age, employment, linguistic proficiency, and the level of education among different migrant groups are changing and changing countries across countries and regions. The long-term objective is to harmonize this monitoring system across Europe as well. DS Massey, JE Taylor - 2004 - International migration: Prospects and policies in a global market

Following the first report in the autumn of 2008, the Kiel Meeting for Integration 2008 introduced the second integration indicator report in mid-January 2012. This second integration indicator report 2012 includes in-depth evaluations of strategically important areas such as language, (education), labor market by means of key indicators of integration monitoring. While progress in the field of labor market integration is continuing, development on the education market and school education continues to stagnate: in the area of ??school education, the proportion of 18 to 25 year olds without a school leaving certificate among persons with a migration background in 2010 (4.4%, 2005: 5, 1%), but this share was more than double that of the total population (2010: 2.3%, 2005: 2.5%). In the field of education, the share of 25 to 35 year olds without a vocational qualification fell among persons with a migration background in 2010 (31.6%, 2005: 37.1%), but it was still more than twice as high as in the total population (2010 : 14.9%, 2005: 17.6%). In the area of ??labor market integration, the unemployment rate among the foreign population fell by 15.8% (2005: 25.1%) but was also twice as high as in the total population (2010: 7.7%, 2005: 11.7%). The second integration indicator report, however, was criticized by opposition politicians. For example, the integration policy spokeswoman of the Linkspartei Sevim Dagdelen criticized the poor participation of migrants in the labor market and education and demanded the introduction of a legal training place allocation as well as the abolition of the multi-part school system. In addition, the integration commissioner of the SPDBundestagsfraktion Aydan Цzoguz asked whether the social origin and not the migration background was the essential factor for school success. J Hollifield, P Martin, P Orrenius - 2014 - Controlling immigration: A global perspective

The second Integration Indicator Report 2012 continued at the end of January of the "National Action Plan for Integration". With the Action Plan, the government aimed at increasing the equal participation chances of migrants. M Piopiunik, J Ruhose - European Economic Review, 2016 - Immigration, regional conditions, and crime: evidence from an allocation policy in Germany The NAP-I was defined in eleven so-called dialogue forums: "Early childhood promotion; Education, education and training; Labor market and working life; Migrants in the public sector; Health and care; On-site integration; Language and integration courses; Sports; Citizenship; Media and culture. In particular, the areas" Migration in the Public Sector "and" Health and Care "in the NAP-I were first discussed with regard to the campaign of the Federal Government "My City. My country. My task." In addition, the Action Plan replaces the National Integration Plan (NIP) adopted at the 2nd Integration Summit 2007. In addition, the NAP-I provides support for the access to education for migrant children and adolescents without residence status. In addition, the action plan stipulates that labor market integration is to be pursued with regard to a labor market-oriented migration policy: "Foreign professional qualifications are to be recognized more rapidly, migrants are better qualified and more strongly supported by the start-up."

In the area of ??religion there are also considerable obstacles to integration in Germany. For example, the extended headscarf ban still applies today. Thus, a Muslim teacher would not replace the headscarf in the service by either a cap or another head cover. Rather, it should not have any head covering. As a reason, the Landesarbeitsgericht Dьsseldorf presented in an appeal decision at the beginning of April 2008 that this headscarf is a religious statement prohibited by the School Act. There are similar cases in other federal states. On the other hand, the labor market has a positive balance. Since 1 May 2011, access to the German labor market for citizens of the eight Central and Eastern European Member States which joined the EU in 2004 is no longer restricted. There is also a positive integration perspective in the field of bathing. At the beginning of December 2011, the Interior Ministers' Conference agreed that an extension of residence permits under the "Bleiberechtsregelung" (for about 14,000 foreigners) is unnecessary.

The second focus of the new migration policy in the 16th legislative period is the "amendment of the Immigration Act 2007". A renewal of the Immigration Act (ZuWG) was necessary in 2005 due to the fundamental implementation of the "Elf-EU-Guidelines" (see Annex: Overview 4) on residence and asylum law, including regulations on family reunion, permanent residence and the reception of asylum seekers. Already shortly after the entry into force, it was obvious that the ZuWG had to be reformed soon, in order to implement some EU directives in German law. The controversial reform of the Immigration Act entered into force on 28 August 2007. The key points of the immigration law amendment in 2007 were welfare law, integration, naturalization and spouses. Particularly the restrictions on spouses were discussed controversially. In the future, spouses from non-EU countries may only move to Germany if they are at least 18 years of age and can already demonstrate simple knowledge of German before entry. R Holzmann, R Munz - 2004 - Challenges and opportunities of international migration for the EU, its member states, neighboring countries, and regions: a Policy Note

However, this rule does not apply to nationals of countries whose citizens can enter Germany without a visa. Therefore, marriage partners from countries such as Australia, Japan, South Korea or the USA do not need to show any linguistic knowledge, while spouses from African countries, Thailand and Turkey have to prove this. In the opinion of the Federal Government, the restrictions on spouse immigration should avoid "arranged marriages" or forced marriages and facilitate the integration of immigrants. However, the regulations are met with strong opposition among migrant associations, including the Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB) and the Federation of Labor Immigrants from Turkey in Germany (AGIF), as well as among the numerous politicians, especially with regard to the Different requirements depending on the country of origin. Thus, these measures are considered to be contrary to fundamental rights and also anti-integration. D.Bessey - Empirical Economics, 2012 International student migration to Germany

There was also an intensive debate on further reform measures, including easing expulsion, higher requirements for naturalization and integration, the introduction of a statutory old-age scheme for long-term sufferers. In particular, the immigration regulations for qualified specialists and self-employed persons led to a considerable controversy. The new regulations were intended to ease the influx of self-employed persons; For these, it was possible to reduce the barriers to start-ups in the sense that no more than one million euros are invested and ten jobs have to be created, but only half, ie at least five jobs and 500,000 euros, in order to obtain a right of residence. On the other hand, the annual minimum employment limit for foreign specialists is not lowered and remains at 85,000 euros per year. As a result, in the period from May 2005 to May 2007 only 1,650 highly qualified foreign employees were granted a permanent residence permit. In addition, the law contained an old-fashioned rule for those who are tolerated, who, however, can only get a residence permit on a trial basis and, in addition, equal access to the labor market if they have at least eight (six-year-old children in the household six) years in Germany , Are taut and have sufficient living space as well as basic German knowledge. All in all, therefore, the principles of the immigration and residence law already applied in the Immigration Act 2005 were newly adjusted, further developed and in some cases tightened in the new Immigration Act 2007. However, some measures encounter violent criticism. R Mьnz, T Straubhaar, FP Vadean, N Vadean - 2006- The costs and benefits of European immigration