The theme of the 7th Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Migration Affairs, "Migrants in our societies: Policy choices in the XXI Century", poses a significant challenge for the whole of Europe and for European co-operation, on which we are entitled to place higher expectations in the field of migration policy and the related development of ethnic relations in our societies. Today, the Council of Europe is a home for all Europeans, as in practice all Europe belongs to it. It is therefore natural that we strive to develop sustainable and dignified good practices separately in each country and together across Europe. In addition, Europe must play a part and exert an influence on the global arena, promoting human rights, social rights and good ethnic relations even outside Europe.

It is a great honour for me, as a representative of the Finnish Government, to be able to present to you our national viewpoints and also to examine migration policy from the European and the global angle. This conference takes place during a time of significant change in Europe, which is moreover linked to globalisation and its impact on human rights and migration flows today and within the foreseeable future. Internationalisation, the liberation of capital flows, the increasing impact of technology on the trade and other relations between countries, as well as demographic issues, the infringements of human rights, social distress and the unequal distribution of global resources among humankind are factors which maintain migration. No country is capable of controlling the situation on its own. What we need are comprehensive European measures in support of human rights, social rights and cultural rights. Solutions devised within one policy sector alone are not enough to meet a broader need or the construction of a better future. The great challenge to policy is the management of sufficiently large entities, starting out from people and their needs. This requires an improved readiness to assume and share responsibility. The European constitutions with which I am familiar emphasise not only national interest, but also the broader responsibilities of each country as a part of humankind. These aspirations are supported by the European Council.

In discussing migration we cannot limit ourselves to only looking at Europe. There is migration into and out of Europe, and there is migration within Europe. In practice no country in Europe is completely untouched by the mobility of people. The two main themes of this conference are 'Challenges for integration policy' and 'Challenges in migration management policies'. Migration is a factor shared by many countries and cultures, while public debate is dominated and opinions are shaped by an emphasis on differences and images perhaps focusing on threats. Migration is also an encounter between different worlds. We often forget that we are talking about people, even if they are called labour, migrant workers and refugees.

The combination of migration and mass movement of people consists of both controlled and planned migration and forced migration caused by the society in the country of origin. Migration flows are affected both by the attraction of the destination and the conditions in the country of origin, as well as by the differences in the standards of living of the two countries. An extremely significant factor are the ties which the immigrant may have formed to the new home country. This tie may be a family member or relative, a friend or an acquaintance. We should not forget or undervalue the bridges formed by these interpersonal networks when considering the nature of migration flows.

Recent Finnish debate on migration policy has been dominated by a discussion of the ageing of the Finnish population and the projected shortage of labour, as well as by a search for appropriate measures. In practice, the current age structure of the labour force all over Europe will lead to a situation where the reduction of the labour force will be greater than the anticipated number of people entering the labour market. The dependency ratio in Finland and in the entire European Economic Area is rapidly becoming distorted. The great resource of the Finnish labour market and national development, the large post-war generations or baby boomers, will have retired completely by the year 2010. This means that by that year, half of current employees of the Finnish state will have retired. The municipal sector will require about 160,000 new employees by the end of this decade. Simultaneously, labour force must also be renewed in manufacturing industry as well as the service, construction and transport sectors. Have we been able to anticipate these foreseeable developments when dimensioning educational provision and when setting our priorities? This question and the answers to it are of concern for the whole of Europe. We are rapidly approaching a situation where competition for certain professional groups will increase across Europe and even in a wider context, also including the USA, Canada and the Pacific countries. An example of this is the nursing sector, where the competition has already started on the European level. It is estimated that compared with the average population, the over-65s need four times and the over-75s eight times more health and care services.

Finland, in line with the rest of Europe, needs a comprehensive immigration policy and an active commitment to it by the decision-makers. The priority of an active immigration policy must be linked to measures which safeguard the demand for labour during the rest of this decade and the 2010s. However, the impact of such measures makes itself felt only slowly. The labour force of the year 2010 is currently at school, while the labour force of 2020 has been born by now. This is a great challenge to education and career counselling. The labour market is also creating new models to replace traditional migration. Among these, cross-border working is becoming more common, as is testified by several European examples. A considerable number of people commute daily across the Sound between Denmark and Sweden, but they do not think of migration. There are many employment arrangements of a similar kind between Austria and Hungary. Long-distance weekly commuting is common between Sweden and the Oslo region in Norway.

The planning and development of immigration policy must not disregard the immigrants already in a country, or the ethnic minorities whose status is weaker. Suitable combinations of educational and other measures can be used to integrate this human resource to the labour market, to bring it out of exclusion in our societies. A good immigration policy also requires active and sustained programmes to develop good ethnic relations and an effective prevention of ethnic discrimination. This is also linked with the integration policy. On the other hand, the successful integration into society of immigrants also requires that the mainstream population is integrated into a more pluralistic society. The immigrants must have both rights and obligations. In fact, we must strive to find an appropriate balance between rights and obligations, so that the increasing plurality of our societies can decisively be turned into an accessible added value. Will the successful integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities into our societies be possible in a broader sense, unless they interact successfully with the mainstream population and its organisations and communities in their neighbourhoods, on the local level? This is one of the questions to which we must find the right answer.

For the common future of Europe it is indispensable that we are able to create the conditions for a good immigration policy to serve the national and wider needs of the rest of this decade and the next one. Good immigration policy is essentially linked to the effective use of the existing national labour resources. This also involves the directing of young second- or third-generation immigrants to educational careers which prepare them for duties and professions requiring multicultural expertise. In addition to immigrants and disadvantaged minorities, those excluded from the labour market also include a great number of handicapped people, and yet only minor support measures would be needed to integrate a significant share of them to the labour market. Nor can we afford to overlook the ageism in our societies, which is visible on the labour market. If countries start actively to recruit labour from abroad and exclude from the labour market immigrants already inside their borders, we are in fact giving more leeway to racism and ethnic discrimination. This in its turn may be reflected in the political behaviour of voters and promote racist tendencies, as has already been seen in Europe.

The conditions for a good policy are essentially linked with the promotion of good ethnic relations and interaction between the mainstream population and the immigrants and traditional minorities. Whatever we now leave undone, or every measure which we know to be indispensable but elect to postpone indefinitely, will weaken our potential to reach a good match between jobs and jobseekers within the foreseeable future. Another factor to be emphasised is the requirement that labour relations are monitored and approved employment conditions and labour legislation are respected. From the start, we should be able to prevent the creation of two labour markets or a grey labour market exploiting the immigrants. A high number of Finnish employers and employees are organised. The significance of the social partners for immigration and migration policy grows as the common ground between immigration policy and the labour market increases. The commitment of the social partners to the development of immigration policy in co-operation with the Government is important.

Starting from the 1970s, migration flows to Western Europe in particular have been caused by humanitarian factors, whereas earlier the chief cause of migration was the search for employment. Migration for the sake of employment is again increasing. Nevertheless, this should not lead to a reduction of humanitarian measures. Europe has the potential to take joint measures and joint stands to influence the rest of the world and to strengthen the respect for human rights wherever they are trodden down. I believe that the new millennium may be a millennium of human rights, and I believe that Europe has the potential to make it so through a common will and the combined weight of the European countries. This would be in line with the objectives and aims of the Council of Europe.

We know that programmes and declarations are often only a first step on the long road to good practices. We also know that the road can be shortened and that good progress is possible, but the process is long. Tomorrow, this Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Migration Affairs will approve an important final declaration and declaration which I believe will contribute to a strengthening of our joint efforts and act as a compass and pointer, on both the national and European levels, towards sustainable and good ethnic relations and interaction. Europe is a multi-faceted part of the world. Europe has a past to learn from and a shared future to embrace.