Abstract
Immigration is deeply rooted in the European history. In the post-war era, several West European governments, especially in large devastated countries, resorted to immigration to cope with important needs for labor force in the event of the post-war efforts to reconstruct the economy. Immigrants, mostly from Northern Africa and the Middle East, therefore owe their origins to the European social model. It can be said that immigration doubtlessly played a crucial role in the aftermath of the war. The existence of a common social model for European countries will not be discussed here. Rather this concept shall refer to the Welfare State as an organizational model of production and work relationships, as well as to the typical social and political arrangement in Europe after 1945. If immigration is a constituent of this model, why is its role in Europe being questioned today? While trying to have a European perspective of the problem, the term immigrants will refer here to non-EU citizens. It should also be distinguished between legal and illegal immigration, which are related to different economic and political problems.
