Integration and temporary labour migration: From duties to rights

In the European immigration legal and political framework, the prevailing view is that integration should not apply to temporary labour migrants (TLMs). Unlike long-term migrant workers, they are not allowed to remain in the host country once their period of mobility ends, pursue new employment opportunities, or move freely across EU internal borders. They are also restricted from bringing family members from abroad, accessing certain welfare benefits, or participating fully in the political life of the host society. This is because seasonal workers, circular migrant workers, posted workers, intra-corporate transferees, young professionals, au pairs, and working holidaymakers reside in the host Member State only temporarily. However, this logic is flawed, as it relies on an artificially constructed precarious legal status for TLMs and a controversial idea of integration as the migrant’s individual duty to conform to a national or European model.

To overcome these limitations, I propose disconnecting integration from residence time and reconceptualising it as a set of rights rather than a series of duties. Building on this approach, I introduce the concept of ‘integration rights’ for TLMs, encompassing fundamental employment rights as well as the rights of residence, free choice of employment, intra-EU mobility, family reunification, access to welfare benefits, and political participation.

An artificially constructed precarious legal status

The assumption that integration should not concern TLMs due to their temporary residence in the host state is misguided for three reasons:

1. Artificially constructed precarious status – The precarious legal status of TLMs, implying limited rights and no possibility to extend their residence, has been deliberately shaped by Western countries to have a flexible labour force at their disposal for seasonal and temporary needs. This approach dates back to the post-WWII ‘guest-worker programmes’, later refined into modern temporary labour schemes. More recently, it has been codified in EU directives on seasonal workers, posted workers, intra-corporate transferees, students and researchers, which aim to attract the most economically desirable labour migrants.
2. Controversial concept of temporariness – The definition of temporariness for TLMs varies by country and does not always align with genuinely temporary work. For instance, in Finland, temporary mobility lasts from three months to two years, while in the Netherlands, it can extend up to five years. Moreover, TLMs often fill cyclical, long-term, and even permanent labour shortages.
3. Narrow view of integration – Integration often carries a negative connotation, influenced by an assimilationist approach that not only requires immigrants to follow the laws and social norms of the host society but also pressures them to conform to a stereotyped notion of its ‘authentic’ members. In countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, and Austria, integration models rely on mandatory (often sanction-based) civic integration programmes, courses, tests, exams, and contractual obligations requiring migrants to acquire basic knowledge of local values, language, culture, and way of life. Rather than viewing integration as a two-way process involving both migrants and the receiving society, this perspective unfairly treats migrants as socially inferior, contradicting the principles of equality and pluralism.

Disconnnecting integration and time

The current legal framework, which assigns different statuses to workers based on their length of residence in the host Member State, raises social justice concerns. Even if their stay is temporary, TLMs belong to the host community on account of their substantial economic contribution. As such, they should be entitled to equal treatment with local and long-term migrant workers.

To ensure that TLMs’ needs and interests are protected equally with those of local and long-term migrant workers, a rights-based approach to integration must be adopted. However, since the EU and its Member States use residence duration to exclude TLMs from the scope of integration, including TLMs requires disconnecting integration from residence time.

Integration duties vs integration rights

In contrast to the integration duties that require migrants to adopt the host society’s values, language, culture, and way of life, TLMs should be entitled to a set of ‘integration rights’ that ensure their needs and interests are protected equally with those of local and long-term migrant workers. This reconceptualisation of integration from a series of duties to a set of rights would detach integration from the assimilationist model and frame it in a more positive light, supporting TLMs’ claims for equal treatment, social participation, and a decent life. Contextually, it would promote a more democratic society grounded in human and workers’ rights, moving beyond the view of foreign labour as merely a commodity tied to short-term economic interests.

Integration rights for TLMs should encompass fundamental employment rights as well as the rights typically granted to local and long-term migrant workers. These include the right to security of residence in the host country, intended as the opportunity to remain in the host state after the period of mobility; the freedom to seek and choose employment in the host country and in any other EU Member State through the freedom of intra-EU mobility; the right to family reunification for all TLMs, regardless of their skill levels; the right to equal access to welfare benefits, depending on the category of TLMs and their individual conditions; and political participation rights (both electoral and non-electoral), framed in a collective dimension, which would enable TLMs to actively protect their rights and interests.

Making integration rights for TLMs a reality in the EU therefore requires more than minor policy adjustments: it calls for a fundamental rethinking of TLM regimes. This means moving beyond the treatment of foreign labour as disposable and legally precarious, and reshaping EU and Member State legal and policy frameworks to recognise TLMs as rights-bearing participants in Europe’s economy and society.

Learn more about the arguments and ideas in this blogpost in the article ‘Integration Rights for Temporary Labour Migrants in the European Union: Disconnecting Integration and Time‘, recently published in European Public Law.

Matteo Bottero is a former Visiting Fellow at the Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute, and has held academic positions at the University of Copenhagen, Dublin City University, and KU Leuven.