Europe

Europe faces an interesting set of immigration challenges and opportunities: Demographic pressures as many European societies age, a lively and at times tense policy and political debate over questions of identity and immigrant integration, and a unique policy environment that has knit many European countries together with regards to free movement, the management of outer borders, asylum, and other immigration-related topics. MPI has long conducted research and analysis of European policy on topics ranging from labor mobility and border security to immigrant integration, citizenship, and foreign qualifications recognition, which can be found below.

Iraqi and Swedish families paired in Sweden's community sponsorship program

Policy Briefs

Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for Refugees’ Transition out of Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways Programs

As more countries launch refugee sponsorship and complementary pathways programs, planning for and supporting refugees’ transition out of these programs is essential. While often receiving less attention than other elements of program design, a clear transition plan can promote refugees’ self-sufficiency, social cohesion, and overall program sustainability. This MPI Europe issue brief explores common transition challenges as well as promising practices.

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe

Commentaries

As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge

Spain and the United States both receive their greatest number of immigrants from Latin America, and have worked collaboratively together on displacement crises and other migration issues. As shared immigration challenges dominate debate on both sides of the Atlantic, Spain can serve as a vital bridge in the policy conversation, this commentary notes.

Passengers wearing face masks at a UK airport

Reports

Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe

The story of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe is chiefly one of challenges to solidarity and coordination. Cross-border movement—even within Europe’s Schengen Area—ground to a halt, and countries took varied approaches to using travel measures in an attempt to slow the virus’s spread. This report explores the pandemic’s impacts on mobility to and within Europe, its challenges to European solidarity, and lessons for future public-health crises.

Recent Activity

Articles April 3, 2019 Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat? By Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan	Policy Briefs March 2019 Money Wise: Improving How EU Funds Support Migration and Integration Policy Objectives By Hanne Beirens and Aliyyah Ahad
Multimedia January 24, 2019 Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: A Sense of Home	Reports February 2019 Exploring New Legal Migration Pathways: Lessons from Pilot Projects By Kate Hooper
Multimedia January 25, 2019 Building the Foundations for Inclusion: What Does the Future Hold for Immigrant Integration in Europe?	Reports January 2019 Breaking New Ground: Ten Ideas to Revamp Integration Policy in Europe By Meghan Benton and Aliyyah Ahad
Reports January 2019 Communicating Strategically about Immigrant Integration: Policymaker Perspectives By Aliyyah Ahad and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan	Commentaries January 2019 Too Little, Too Late? Contingency Planning for UK Nationals in Case of a No-Deal Brexit By Meghan Benton and Aliyyah Ahad

Pages

Policy Briefs May 2013 Migration and Environmental Change: Assessing the Developing European Approach By Andrew Geddes and Will Somerville	Reports March 2013 Immigration and National Identity in Norway By Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Reports March 2013 The Integration Needs of Mobile EU Citizens: Impediments and Opportunities By Elizabeth Collett	Reports March 2013 Exceptional in Europe? Spain's Experience with Immigration and Integration By Joaquín Arango
Reports March 2013 Identity and (Muslim) Integration in Germany By Naika Foroutan	Reports March 2013 The Netherlands: From National Identity to Plural Identifications By Monique Kremer
Policy Briefs February 2013 Facing 2020: Developing a New European Agenda for Immigration and Asylum Policy By Elizabeth Collett	Reports February 2013 How Free Is Free Movement? Dynamics and Drivers of Mobility within the European Union By Meghan Benton and Milica Petrovic

Pages

Top Ten

December 10, 2013

Greece Confronts Golden Dawn As the Far Right Takes Aim at the European Union

The murder of an anti-fascist rapper in 2013 dealt a severe blow to Greece's extremist, virulently anti-immigrant political party Golden Dawn, whose popularity had been increasing (relatively unchecked) since 2010. The party, which rejects the neo-Nazi label that many have applied to it, provoked a national outcry in September after a party sympathizer confessed to killing Pavlos Fyssas.

Top Ten

December 10, 2013

Questions of Immigration Control Preoccupy Policymakers Worldwide as Mixed Flows of New Arrivals Continue, and in Some Cases, Surge

This year has seen greater focus by policymakers in countries around the world on the balance between two enduring, complex migration management imperatives: maintaining secure and credible borders while separating out unauthorized immigrants from the most vulnerable populations in need of humanitarian protection, particularly those seeking refuge from conflict and persecution.

Feature

September 4, 2013

Integrating Immigrant Youth: Transatlantic Perspectives

This article examines common challenges and factors influencing the development of local labor-market integration initiatives targeting immigrant youth, based on four city case studies conducted in the United States and the European Union.

Feature

June 28, 2013

Diasporas and Development in Post-Communist Eurasia

The region encompassing Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Union is the source of a sizeable share of international migrants today, yet many of these countries' development efforts do not benefit from strong diaspora ties.

Feature

May 10, 2013

Integrating Europe's Muslim Minorities: Public Anxieties, Policy Responses

Muslim integration is one of the most contentious issues in the immigration debate in Europe, and one that gets to the heart of public anxieties about immigration. This article explores public perception toward Muslims in Western Europe and the array of integration policies that countries in the region have adopted during the past several years.

Recent Activity

Reports

October 2021

How We Talk about Migration: The Link between Migration Narratives, Policy, and Power

As migration levels rise, societies are facing competing narratives about immigration. Often, there is dissonance between top-down narratives from political leaders and bottom-up narratives spread through personal and media engagement. This report explores positive and negative narratives around migration in Colombia, Lebanon, Morocco, Sweden, and the United States to determine the contexts in which some stick while others fail.

Commentaries

October 2021

As the United States Lifts Travel Restrictions, Its New Vaccination Requirements Could Shape the Future of Global Mobility

The U.S. decision to lift border restrictions for fully vaccinated international travelers represents the latest move by governments around the world to loosen COVID-19-era travel restrictions. Yet it underscores a major policy shift that has gone almost unnoticed: with vaccination moving from being a fast track to travel to becoming a required ticket. This raises significant equity and technical considerations, as this commentary explores.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 13, 2021

Making Migration Policy in an Ever More Complex World

MPI co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou takes on many questions, including whether the role of think tanks has evolved over the last two decades, in this World of Migration conversation with MPI’s Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan. They also look ahead to the challenges that will dominate immigration policymaking in the years ahead.

Commentaries

October 2021

Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?

As European countries seek to revive their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, acute labor shortages in a variety of sectors risk stopping the recovery in its tracks. This commentary explores why these shortages are emerging and how immigration policy can form one part of the broader strategy to meet labor market needs.

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 4, 2021

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI): Sowing Innovation in the Cracks of Crisis

This virtual conference explores how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community-led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion has fared during COVID-19. It also focuses on how this ecosystem can emerge strengthened from the pandemic, and be a vital force in addressing new humanitarian challenges.

Reports

September 2021

"Diversifying" Social Investment: European Welfare States and Immigrant Integration in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis

European countries’ responses to the pandemic have been extraordinary in scope and volume, and strengthened appreciation for the role of robust welfare programs in helping individuals and communities weather challenges. This report explores the case for using the crisis to more permanently rethink European welfare states and whether the social-investment approach could serve as a tool for post-pandemic recovery in diverse, immigrant-receiving societies.

Video, Audio, Webinars

September 14, 2021

How Will the Pandemic Reshape Public Health for Migrants?

With COVID-19 likely to significantly reshape health-care systems in Europe and worldwide, there is a window of opportunity to test new strategies to tackle longstanding migrant health disparities, and ensure that structural changes accommodate the complex needs of diverse populations.

Reports

September 2021

Healing the Gap: Building Inclusive Public-Health and Migrant Integration Systems in Europe

While the pandemic has had broad impacts across European societies, these have not been evenly felt. Many migrants and refugees have long faced health challenges, such as limited health-care eligibility and accessibility, and COVID-19 has threatened to deepen health disparities. This report explores how European countries have responded and what opportunities have emerged to tackle disparities in migrant health.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Europe

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages