| abstract
| - Integration Integration has been variously defined. Here we use the term broadly to refer to a variety of processes by which individual and groups of immigrants are incorporated into various social arenas and segments of society. S uccessful integration can be seen as a state in which a community that has migrated to a society reaches levels of educational, political, social and economic progress comparable to those of the broader population. Commentators on integration can be broadly divided into those who see the process as 'one-way' and those who see it as 'two-way'. The one-way approach is better described as assimilation. Roy Jenkins, Labour home secretary in the UK during the 1960s Wilson government, defined integration in 1966 as "[Integration does not mean] the loss by immigrants of their own national characteristics and culture. I do not think we need in this country a "melting pot"... It would deprive us of most of the positive benefits of immigration that I believe to be very great indeed. I define integration, therefore, not as a flattening process of assimilation, but as an equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance." (13) In this definition, Jenkins makes a clear differentiation between assimilation and integration, highlighting the mutuality involved in the latter, and he characterises assimilation as a 'flattening’ process - a process that levels down. Integration is nowadays increasingly viewed in its ideal form as a two-way process in which both the immigrants and the host society adopt new features as a result of their interaction. Canada is probably the country that has taken policy towards integration the farthest. In Canada, integration has been defined as 'the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges and equal opportunities within Canada, based on a sense of trust, hope and reciprocity among all Canadians' (14). In this definition, integration is not seen as involving an essential, unchanging norm to which new immigrants have to adapt themselves but a process in which new and old immigrants can engage in an ongoing, open-ended and creative process of self-discovery through recognition of others; importantly, regardless of the outcome, all are accorded recognition in this process as 'Canadians'. Within the EU there are a variety of models of integration. The multicultural approach of the British has been contrasted with the more assimilationist approach of the French although Bleich (15) regards the two approaches as more similar than usually presented. Both countries have given citizenship to the vast majority of their immigrants in stark contrast to Germany where many migrants, for example some in the Turkish community, do not have citizenship even in the second and third generation. Many EU Member States have adopted a raft of policy measures to prevent discrimination both in employment and in other services (health, education, housing) as well as to promote social and economic integration.
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