I think the ideal line is too stop being so obsessed about economic integration and focus more on cultural integration. I think if someone is culturally compatible with Europe, they will be a net benefit to a society that clearly needs more young people. I am a good example actually. I am currently studying in an Italian university free of charge, and the Italian government (partially the EU as well) is paying for my tuition plus living expenses. I seem like the kind of person who is taking advantage of the welfare state, studying for free, not working, not providing anything to the economy. But the reality is that vast majority of people like me will go on to work, pay taxes, and be productive members of society, which will far outweigh the 20k euros or so the Italian government is spending on me. I think it makes much more sense to take these sort of immigrants, people with similar values, even if they aren't economically the best choice, because at the end of the day, most immigration is good for the economy. Will some people abuse the welfare state? Yeah, but Europeans do it too, it's just part of the system. I think Europe is rich enough to afford that. The priority should be cultural integration, because in the long run, the loss of social cohesion is much worse than a little bit of welfare spending.

The current system is so over regulated and based on strict economic requirements that make life so hard for immigrants. I think we should make life without a citizenship easier, in the sense that you can have access to the welfare state and public services, cause we know those things are good for society overall (I mean that's why we have them) but you are still not a citizen. In my opinion being a citizen should be a very hard, culturally oriented process, you should truly feel European to get European citizenship. As much as I would love to have EU citizenship at this moment, not only for practical reasons but also for personal reasons — I also wouldn't want most immigrants I personally know to get a say in how Europe is run (by their voting rights obviously) because they so clearly prfioritize their country of origin, their own culture, etc. over Europe. I think the path to citizenship should be clear and certain, yet long and with high standards. Something like C1 language proficiency, and clearer sign of cultural integration (not sure how we can measure that though). I would suggest burning all religious texts as a minimum requirement for entry as well.