Articles - Europe

A number of events in 2010 across the continent, and particularly in places long seen as moderate, seem to indicate a larger shift away from openness.

Europe's largest minority group has long faced discrimination, but France's deportation of Roma as part of its security policies has sparked criticism from the European Union and human rights groups. Kristi Severance explains how the situation has evolved in recent months, the relevant EU laws, and how Europe is likely to move forward.

In its newest five-year "roadmap" for justice and home affairs policy, the European Union has made migration a priority area. But while the Stockholm program offers plenty of detail on issues like illegal migration and asylum, it offers few specifics as to the final goal. MPI's Elizabeth Collett analyzes the program's action points and looks at challenges facing its implementation.

The global recession has caused countries that once welcomed foreign workers by the tens and hundreds of thousands — particularly Spain — to rethink generous immigration policies as unemployment rates have risen.

Many countries relied on low-skilled immigrant workers during good times. But Japan, Spain, and the Czech Republic have recently introduced "pay-to-go" programs to reduce the number of unemployed immigrants. MPI's Kristen McCabe, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Hiroyuki Tanaka, and Piotr Plewa of the European University Institute examine these programs and the larger policy questions they raise.

In recent years, the European Union has come to recognize that it cannot prevent migration and that it needs a different approach to managing flows from its poorer neighbors. Jean-Pierre Cassarino of the European University Institute looks at the rationale for mobility partnerships and what they will need to be effective.

Recent immigration to the United Kingdom is larger and more diverse than at any point in its history. This updated profile examines how the global recession is affecting migration flows, the latest immigration and asylum data, and overviews of new immigration and integration policies.

The idea of belonging is a powerful lens for examining immigrant integration. Geoff Mulgan of the Young Foundation in the United Kingdom outlines 10 key feedback circuits, including the economy, culture, and physical environment, from which people receive messages about belonging.

Gloomy economic forecasts do not seem to have slowed the hunt for highly skilled migrants or foreign students — the best near-term solution to fill shortages and enhance competitiveness.