Building a Friendly Fortress: The European Union and the Creation of an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice	Events > Event Announcement

In ten weeks, ten new countries join the European Union. The date of accession, May 1, 2004, coincides with the EU’s self-imposed deadline for creating the basis of a common asylum system within what they have labeled an area of “Freedom, Security and Justice.” However, many discussions on asylum and immigration seem to have led to a starker exposition of the differences among the 15 member states, rather than to a harmonization of approach for the soon to be 25-strong Union.

The Migration Policy Institute is honored to welcome Mr. Bertel Haarder, Denmark’s Minister for Refugees, Immigration and Integration Affairs to speak in our Leaders Forum. The briefing and reception, will be his first event upon arriving in the United States. It will be an opportunity to hear about Mr Haarder’s vision for migration policy in Denmark and the broader EU.

Denmark, like other European countries, is seeking to balance concerns about immigration and cultural differences with a long tradition of humanitarianism. In spite of Denmark opting out from the EU’s legal decisions on asylum, it has played a key political role, particularly since the elections of 2001 brought a new coalition to power. This coalition includes the small Danish People’s Party, which won many anti-immigrant votes.

Regulations on family reunification, with a required minimum age of 24 for anyone in Denmark to be permitted to bring a non-EU citizen spouse into the country, starkly demonstrate the tensions at play. Worried both about increasing immigrant arrivals and about forced marriages in recently formed ethnic communities, the government’s approach affects the rights of all inhabitants and citizens of Denmark. In general, the difficult relationship between immigration and the highly developed welfare states of the Nordic countries gives Denmark a central role in defining the Freedom, Security and Justice of the EU.

Minister Haarder, of the coalition’s larger Liberal Party, has held his current post since 2001, and was also Minister for European Affairs during the Danish Presidency of the EU in 2001. His Party asked him to return from the European Parliament to take up the post of Minister, confident that his unique background as a former Minister of Education (1982-1993) and vice-President of the European Parliament, would make him a figure who could reach compromises on the migration issues at home, and build bridges in the EU.

Who: Mr. Bertel Haarder, Denmark’s Minister for Refugees, Immigration and Integration Affairs and former Minister for European Affairs during the Danish Presidency of the EU in 2001

When: March 1, 2004
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Where: 1400 16th Street, N.W.
Resources for the Future Building, Conference Rooms A and B

RSVP: Acceptances only to Ana Claros at (202) 266-1940 or aclaros@migrationpolicy.org.

There are commercial garages on P Street (between 16th and 17th Streets) and at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, as well as 2-hour metered street parking in the neighborhood. MPI is a 5- to 10-minute walk from the Dupont Circle South Metro station. Our building is located on the corner of P and 16th Streets. You may enter at 1616 P Street or 1400 16th Street.