While I think the term racism is inappropriate here, xenophobia is certainly an issue. Let's have a look at the facts:
1. Across the whole EU, in 2010/2011 (last available data I could find), there have only been two countries with a positive migration saldo of own citizens. All other EU members tend to be outmigration countries as concerns own citizens (though several are immigration targets for other EU citizens). Which were these two EU member states? Not Germany (23k net outmigration, 0.03% of citizens), not Austria (7k net outmigration, ~ 0.1% of citizens). No, it was Malta and Denmark.
In this context, it is worth noting that the top two German outmigration targets have been Switzerland (9.5k net) and Austria (4k net). Further relevant targets (~ 1k each) include France, the UK and the USA. This corresponds to a net immigration of 4.5k French, 3.5k British, and 2-2.5k each Swiss, Austrian and US citizens (yes, there are more Americans migrating to Germany now than the other way round, leading the poor Germans to search for shelter in the Alps...).
Therefore, I support that the EU "free-movement policy" is amended so that if for example immigration/population growth tops 0.5% for 2 consecutive years in a 5 year time-span, a country would be free to set immigration quotas to protect the domestic economy and local communities from the problems above + wage dumping.
2. Don't have figures at hand for Austria, but net EU immigration into Germany has so far remained far below Tender's suggested threshold of 0.5%. It has picked up strongly after 2009, and in 2012 (last data available) peaked at 260k, i.e. 0,32%. of the population. If such levels already raise popular concern, regulation as proposed by Tender will be nothing more than populist actionism, without any effect on popular sentiment nor on actual migration flows.
3. There is considerable variation among German states. A comprehensive overview is only available for 2012, and includes EU as well as non-EU migrants. It shows the following ranking of states (migration surplus as share of total population):
1. Berlin (+0.88%)
2. Bremen (+0.69%)
3. Hamburg (+0.67%)
4./5. Bavaria / Baden-Würtemberg (+0.61% each)
6. Hesse (+0.57%)
..
13. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (+0.24%)
13./15. Brandenburg / Thüringen (+0.22%)
16. Sachsen-Anhalt (+0.17%)
No surprise here. Immigration targets the boomtowns with comparatively low unemployment (Bremen may be a bit of an exception in that respect). Infrastructure (traffic & housing) could become some of an issue here. However, so far, neither the mayors of Hamburg nor of Lübeck (also quite a target) have complained - to the opposite, they are celebrating the fact that their cities are growing again. As to wage dumping - see "minimum wage".
This underlines my impression that we are having a very populist discussion, where people that are not concerned talk about problems those that might be concerned are not having. [
Would have been interesting, btw., to see a regional breakdown of the German poll. The partisan breakdown lets me assume people in Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Munich or Frankfurt being far less concerned, even though they are living where immigration is most of an issue].
4. So, what is all of this really about? Top sources of EU immigration into Germany 2012:
1. Poland +69k
2. Romania +49k
3. Hungary +26k
4. Bulgaria +26k
5. Greece +20k
6. Italy +16k
7. Spain +14k
8. Portugal +6k
Euro crisis-related immigration is becoming relevant, but the main source is still Eastern Europe. Oh, yeah, the wild hordes from the eastern steppes (Huns, Turks), are raising their ugly head again, threatening to drive Germanic people across the Rhine and laying siege to Vienna. Some deeply entrenched historical experiences appear to never go away. Especially not, if some politicians are always eager to revoke them for short-term political benefit..
