Publication

This paper assesses the tensions inherent in the relationship between civic integration programs and the principles of legal certainty, proportionality and non-discrimination. It compares national immigration legislation in Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands, studying the personal and material scope of civic integration provisions as well as their political justification. The authors argue that by providing a supranational venue for the transferring and legitimizing of certain national policies that use civic integration to restrict immigration, the legitimacy and coherence of the EU immigration policy is affected. They conclude that EU member states are no longer free to use integration as a derogative clause.