ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ ЭТНОДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОЙ СТРУКТУРЫ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ СТРАН ЕВРОСОЮЗА ПОД ВЛИЯНИЕМ ИММИГРАЦИИ: ОСОБЕННОСТИ ГЕРМАНИИ И АВСТРИИ

Abstract

The article covers such issues as the impact of international migration on the ethno-demographic and socio-political situation in the EU countries in general and the particular cases of Germany and Austria. A special attention in the analysis has been paid to the peculiarities of immigration from countries with a predominantly Muslim population. Nowadays it can be stated with certainty that international migration is the only source of the population growth in most of the countries of the European Union. Amid low birth rates which do not even provide a simple reproduction of the population and aging processes, international migration has made it possible to provide a stable population growth in Germany, France, UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and some other EU countries. The analysis of the structure of migration flows gives an opportunity to conclude that in the last decade the main donors for the EU countries were countries with a predominantly Muslim population. In particular, these countries are characterized by a large number of children. Therefore, subject to sufficiently high rates of immigration, in the short and medium term, this may serve as a reserve for the demographic development of host countries. However, it is necessary to take into account the existing objective differences in the ethno-demographic structure of migrants and the local population, the national customs which are common for the countries of origin, the level of education, and a number of other characteristics. This requires European countries to transform approaches to the implementation of migration policy and develop new methods and mechanisms for the adaptation and integration of migrants from Muslim countries.