Flanders is teaching Europe to integrate

The European Committee of the Regions has approved a report by Flemish Parliament Member Karl Vanlouwe on the integration of newcomers. In it, the way in which Flanders promotes language, knowledge and integration is spotlighted. Later this year, the report will be sent to all European institutions as official advice.

Initiative-taker Karl Vanlouwe reacts with satisfaction: “For more than ten years now, Flanders has been running a successful and obligatory integration policy for newcomers. Its two main thrusts are language learning and integration. What Flanders is doing will soon be an example for the whole European Union.”

Full integration

The report proposes bringing newcomers into contact as quickly as possible with new neighbours, classmates, teachers at school and colleagues in the workplace. Integration paths with courses in social orientation can also enable newcomers to become acquainted with our European standards and values in an interactive manner.

It is necessary to integrate legal newcomers fully in our society. As it happens our European society is becoming ever more diverse, not least as a result of the current asylum and immigration crisis. “Integration must be a story of rights and duties, both for the newcomer and for the host community,” Karl Vanlouwe concludes.