The 2nd Joint Workshop on Pilot Projects 2 and 3 was held in Prague, Czech Republic on 7-8 February 2013 and gathered representatives of 15 Prague Process countries, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) as well as a number of external experts. The first day of the Workshop was dedicated to Pilot Project 3 which is concerned with Migration and Development and circular migration in particular. External experts were invited to introduce participants to various issues such as the potential development impacts of circular migration, the challenges in setting up a pilot project on circular migration, or the portability of migrant workers’ pension, health and other social benefits. A first descriptive summary of the answers submitted by participating states to the questionnaire disseminated earlier within the Pilot Project were presented and discussed among participants within a tour de table. While most participating countries have no exact definition of circular migration or an explicit legislation thereof, their representatives showed great interest in further developing the concept with the possibility of implementing practical initiatives in the future.The second day was concerned with Pilot Project 2 on Labour Migration and, more specifically, the respective information provision to migrants. New ideas to improve labour matching within the EU were discussed, before then introducing participants to the complexity of bilateral agreements as well as statistics and data collection. Among the experts invited was the representative of the “Centre for the Integration of Foreigners” in Prague who gave a useful insight into the daily work, information provision and assistance provided to third country nationals in the country and the challenges faced there within. The national representatives of Albania, Finland and Georgia then presented their respective labour migration policies. Finally, the role of diaspora engagement in enhancing labour matching and information provision to potential migrants was also discussed. It was agreed that the finalized PP2 questionnaire will be disseminated to participating countries in the beginning of March in order for them to submit their answers before the summer.
