Introduction
Romanians began migrating to other European nations in the early 1990s, following the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Romania, located in Eastern Europe, and Spain, located in Western Europe, initially shared different political and economic ideologies. Therefore, it required considerable effort for people to migrate between and within countries.
When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, many Romanians migrated to the neighboring former capitalist nations with better economic conditions. Migration into Spain, miles west of Romania, also began during this period. The governments of both countries initially failed to notice and formulate policies to manage this migration.
However, during the 1990s, both countries started formulating laws that affected and facilitated migration. By 2008, the number of people of Romanian origin in Western countries had reached 700,000, as early Romanian immigrants to Spain served as a link for their friends and families (Parreño-Castellano et al. 82). Between 1990 and 2010, migration policies in Spain and Romania significantly influenced the rise of both immigration and emigration.
Policies of Migration in Romania
Romania is located at the intersection of Southeastern Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. It is not only one of the largest countries in Europe but also the fifth most populous on the continent. Romania experienced one of the largest mass migrations in the early 1990s, following the fall of the communist regime, with 17% of the country’s population relocating to other countries (Simionescu 3608). This migration resulted in millions of people from the country’s ethnic background living in other countries, especially Italy and Spain. Studies have revealed that the number of immigrants in Italy was over 1 million in 2009 (Kosic and Dzamonja Ignjatovic 2).
In Spain, the number of people of Romanian ethnicity peaked at 900,000 in 2010 (Parreño-Castellano et al. 83). Most immigrants from Romania are from the Republic of Moldova and account for over half of the total foreign population. The primary reason for this trend is that the two nations share a similar cultural background. Other countries with large populations are the People’s Republic of China and Vietnam. Immigration and emigration into Romania during the period under discussion are influenced by the country’s policies, as discussed.
Initially, two migration policies have been implemented in Romania. One occurred before the country joined the European Union, and the other occurred after it joined the union in 2007 (Del Sarto 56). Before joining the European Union, the Romanian government signed many readmission agreements with various countries. In 1993, the government signed one of these agreements with Poland, under which a mutual agreement was reached regarding the repatriation of individuals living illegally in another country (Del Sarto 37). In the same year, an agreement was signed allowing the readmission of persons who had entered another country illegally or whose stay had expired.
In the following year, 1994, the Romanian government signed readmission agreements regarding illegal readmissions with the governments of France, Greece, and the Czech Republic (Del Sarto 43). In 1997, a readmission agreement was signed with Spain (Molinero-Gerbeau et al. 4). In 1998, the Romanian Minister of the Interior met with the German Federal Minister of the Interior, and they agreed on the takeover of stateless people (Del Sarto 29). These policies made it easy for Romanians to work in other countries before their country joined the European Union.
Bilateral agreement policies have also positively and negatively impacted Romanians’ migration into other countries. Many such agreements were signed between the Romanian government and Germany in the 1990s. In 1991, an agreement was signed that allowed Romanian contracted workers in Germany (Del Sart 20). The governments also hosted conventions aimed at training Romanians in the German language, which would facilitate their employment opportunities there. In 1999, an agreement was reached between the labor ministries of both countries, allowing Romanians to have permanent access to employment in Germany (Del Sarto 47).
Bilateral labor agreements were also signed between Romania and other nations before it joined the European Union. Some countries that offered temporary or permanent employment opportunities, as agreed upon, included Luxembourg, Spain, France, Hungary, Switzerland, and Italy. The Romanian government also signed social security bilateral agreements with Albania, Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, the Republic of Korea, and the Union of Soviet socialist republics between 1990 and 2010. These social security agreements benefited Romanian Immigrants and Emigrants by eliminating the need to pay social security protection charges twice.
Over the past few years, scholars have observed that migration policies have not met their required goals, and the same can be said of Romania, both before and after its accession. One of the most contentious policies in Romania has been family reunification, which grants migration rights to allow individuals to reunite with their family members. Traditionally, granting family reunion rights in Romania was viewed as a move that promoted social unity.
However, a large group of debaters has recently been opposed to this policy. This group says the policy is counterproductive since the targeted integration has yet to be achieved in most immigrant families in Romania and Europe. The failure of the family reunion integration policy is attributable to a male-dominated society across Romania, where most immigrants are mistreated and manipulated by their partners.
Policies of Migration in Spain
The Kingdom of Spain is in southwestern Europe, with most of the country in the Iberian Peninsula.Spain has 47 million people and is Europe’s fourth most populous country (Hernáez et al. 917).Sound economic policies in Spain make the number of immigrants less than that of emigrants.
Since the early 1990s, the number of immigrants has increased exponentially, from 1.6% in 1998 to 12% by 2009 (Hooper 3). Most immigrants to Spain come from Morocco and account for 13% of the total immigrant population, with Romania a close second with 9% (Hooper 5).The first immigration policies in Spain were crafted in 1985 in anticipation of the country joining the European Union. Still, the law was poorly crafted (Vrăbiescu 138)—the policies in the 1985 legislation limited employment opportunities for people living in and outside the country.
Various legislations regarding migration policies have been agreed upon between Romania and Spain. In 2002, Spain and Romania signed a bilateral labor agreement that allowed Romanians to work in Spain (Molinero-Gerbeau et al. 3). This policy was the first bilateral labor agreement between Spain and an Eastern European nation.At the time of the agreement signing, Romanians were earning, on average, 15 times less than they would earn in Spain (Martínez Turégano 14). This migration slowly increased the number of Spanish people of Romanian ethnicity.
During the 1990s, a law was signed allowing immigrants who had lived in Spain for more than ten years to be granted citizenship. This legislation led to the Spanish people of Romanian ethnicity being eclipsed only by Moroccans. A family reunion law grants people who have family members belonging to other nations the right to have them granted citizenship. This policy furthers the number of immigrants in the country.
European Union policies have also greatly influenced Spain’s immigration and emigration between 1990 and 2010. For instance, in 2002, the European Union signed a law that allowed Romanians to have a free visa allowing its citizens to travel into any European Union nation (Molinero-Gerbeau et al. 4). The only requirement to be granted the visa was that the Romanians needed to prove that they could support themselves financially and that the reason for their travel was to gain employment.
Since Spain was a cheaper destination than the other nations, so many Romanian citizens flooded the country. Spain has also had a culture of regularizing illegal immigrants every time it reforms its European Union immigration laws. So far, the country has reformed its policies five times in 1996, 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2006, granting citizenship to over 1 million Romanians (Rodriguez). The country also initiated the rootedness immigration policy, granting illegal migrants citizenship.
Conclusion
The migration policies in Spain and Romania played a crucial role in increased immigration and emigration between 1990 and 2010. Since the Berlin Wall fell, Romanians have been favorably affected by continuous agreements between their government and other governments.When the country later joined the European Union in 2007, the union gave the Romanian population unique benefits, such as free visa policies, as long as they proved they could be financially stable in a foreign nation.Likewise, Spain has become a target destination for immigrants since the country has a good economy and ample employment opportunities for people, especially in the service and agricultural sectors. The country’s regularization policies of granting legal citizenship to illegal immigrants have significantly increased the number of foreigners in the Kingdom.
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