The Narrowing-Down of the OEEC/OECD Migration Functions, 1947–1986

Abstract

This chapter explores the changes in the migration functions of the OEEC/OECD in the postwar decades. In the early Cold War context, the US tried to influence the OEEC to liberalize the migration regime in Western Europe. Yet, we show that given the large number of member countries of emigration in the OEEC, member states of immigration were reluctant to liberalize and the Organization only served as a forum for weak coordination. The shift from liberal to restrictive national migration policies in the late 1960s and early 1970s appeared to open a window of opportunity for the OECD. The member states of emigration, supported by the OECD Secretariat, promoted cooperation to redistribute the costs of restrictive migration policies. However, the reluctance of member states of immigration and competition from other international organizations undermined the position of the OECD and, by the mid-1980s, its migration functions had almost disappeared.