E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Europe

Europe

European Union

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.

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.

Young Syrian man and social worker in Turkey
Reports

Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe

Large-scale displacement can trigger instability and feelings of threat in refugee host countries. But in certain cases, it can also uncover deep wells of solidarity that create space for generous policy responses. This report explores factors that can foster and erode public support for forced migrants, drawing examples from attitudes towards Syrians in Turkey, Venezuelans in Colombia, and Ukrainians in Europe.

Recent Activity

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Reports
March 2016
No Way Out? Making Additional Migration Channels Work for Refugees
By  Elizabeth Collett, Paul Clewett and Susan Fratzke
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Articles
March 23, 2016
Development through Diversity: Engaging Armenia’s New and Old Diaspora
By Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan
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Reports
March 2016
The Canadian Expression of Interest System: A Model to Manage Skilled Migration to the European Union?
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper
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Reports
March 2016
Spain: New Emigration Policies Needed for an Emerging Diaspora
By  Joaquín Arango
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Reports
February 2016
The Germany-Turkey Migration Corridor: Refitting Policies for a Transnational Age
By  Yaşar Aydın
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Multimedia
February 17, 2016
Europe’s Migration Crisis: A Status Report and the Way Forward
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Articles
February 10, 2016
Overwhelmed by Refugee Flows, Scandinavia Tempers its Warm Welcome
By Arno Tanner
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Reports
February 2016
Emigration from Portugal: Old Wine in New Bottles?
By  David Justino

Pages

Feature
September 1, 2005
Regularizing Immigrants in Spain: A New Approach

Spain’s latest regularization program, unlike in the past, is part of a more comprehensive approach to combating illegal immigration and employment. Joaquín Arango of Complutense University of Madrid and Maia Jachimowicz outline the program and provide some preliminary results.

Feature
August 1, 2005
New Research Challenges Notion of German "Brain Drain"

For years, Germany has been concerned about losing its top minds to the United States. While highly skilled individuals are leaving for the U.S., most of the increase is accounted for by temporary migrants, as Claudia Diehl of the German Federal Institute for Population Research and MPI's David Dixon reveal.

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Profile
August 1, 2005
The Czech Republic: From Liberal Policy to EU Membership
After its independence in 1993, the Czech Republic became home to tens of thousands of economic migrants. But as Dušan Drbohlav of Charles University reports, tighter restrictions and new laws in accordance with EU standards have not resolved the problems of illegal and transit migration.
Feature
July 1, 2005
Trafficking in Women from Nigeria to Europe

In search of a better life, thousands of Nigerian women have signed emigration "pacts" with smugglers before going to Europe, where they are coerced into prostitution. Jørgen Carling of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo explains.

Feature
May 1, 2005
The Roma of Eastern Europe: Still Searching for Inclusion

Over one million Roma, Europe’s largest ethnic minority, became EU citizens in May 2004 when eight former communist states joined the EU. But their second-class status persists, as Arno Tanner of the Finnish Directorate of Immigration explains.

Pages

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Recent Activity

Reports
March 2016

No Way Out? Making Additional Migration Channels Work for Refugees

Although in theory refugees are already eligible to move beyond the circumstances of their displacement through a variety of legal channels, in reality pathways are often blocked by practical, technical, and political obstacles. This report explores existing tools and innovative new ideas to open additional opportunities to refugees, whether in first-asylum countries or via migration elsewhere.

Articles
March 23, 2016

Development through Diversity: Engaging Armenia’s New and Old Diaspora

The Armenian diaspora, which significantly exceeds the country's resident population, has played an instrumental role in Armenia's political and economic development since independence in 1991. Yet a picture emerges of divergent currents within the diaspora, often seen from above as a unified entity. Delve into differences in engagement among Armenia's "old" and "new" diasporas with this feature article.

Reports
March 2016

The Canadian Expression of Interest System: A Model to Manage Skilled Migration to the European Union?

This report examines Canada's implementation of Express Entry, a system designed to fast-track for legal immigration the skilled immigrants deemed most likely to achieve economic success and positive integration outcomes. With the European Union seeking ways to better attract global talent, the report explores how the expression of interest system could offer mechanisms to improve the management of highly skilled migration.

Reports
March 2016

Spain: New Emigration Policies Needed for an Emerging Diaspora

This report discusses Spain’s changing migration patterns in the wake of dramatic economic downturn, paying special attention to the effects of the emigration of young, native-born Spaniards. The report also focuses on policies geared toward engaging the increasing number of Spaniards abroad, finding that much of Spain's policy towards diasporas predates the 1980s.

Reports
February 2016

The Germany-Turkey Migration Corridor: Refitting Policies for a Transnational Age

This Transatlantic Council on Migration report describes how the migration of nationals between Germany and Turkey has developed over recent decades; examines the economic, social, and political factors behind this development; and discusses the policy implications and lessons that can be drawn.

Video, Audio
February 17, 2016

Europe’s Migration Crisis: A Status Report and the Way Forward

MPI's Demetrios Papademetriou discusses the current policy responses to the refugee and migration crisis at EU and national levels, and possible options for dealing more effectively with the crisis and longer-term integration challenges.

Articles
February 10, 2016

Overwhelmed by Refugee Flows, Scandinavia Tempers its Warm Welcome

Drawn by generous asylum policies and the region's welcoming reputation, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers arrived in Scandinavia in 2015. As the unprecedented flow overwhelmed the asylum systems of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, lawmakers began to recalibrate their policies, tightening asylum benefits in a number of significant ways, as this article explores.

Reports
February 2016

Emigration from Portugal: Old Wine in New Bottles?

While emigration increased after Portugal plunged into an economically turbulent period amid the global financial crisis, the country's image as the poster child for post-crisis outmigration may be misplaced. This report explores the scale, drivers, and impact of emigration from Portugal since the turn of the millennium, and examines how the country can stem emigration and promote the return of emigrants.

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