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

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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

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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

Commentaries

February 2022

Is Europe Prepared for a Possible Large-Scale Ukrainian Displacement Crisis?

Tested by the 2015-16 refugee crisis, are EU Member States better prepared for large-scale displacement of Ukrainians? This MPI Europe commentary examines preparedness for the possible inflow of Ukrainians, who already have visa-free access to the bloc.

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 7, 2022

A Note of Caution about Exaggerating the Climate-Migration Link

This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration checks in with migration scholar Hein de Haas about the predictions that vast numbers of people will be displaced by climate change and head to wealthy countries in North America and Europe—views he deems often misplaced.

Articles

February 2, 2022

The Increasing Use of Artificial Intelligence in Border Zones Prompts Privacy Questions

Artificial intelligence systems that promise speedier travel and improved tools to halt smuggling and detect illegal entry have been embraced by border officials across the globe. But critics contend they also pose serious privacy concerns, which may become more pronounced as technologies evolve. This article examines the challenges and promises.

Reports

January 2022

The Winding Road to Marrakech: Lessons from the European Negotiations of the Global Compact for Migration

In the months leading up to the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration in 2018, what had been a quiet negotiation process suddenly became front-page news, drawing unprecedented public attention and sparking protests across Europe. This report explores how the compact negotiations triggered a multilayered institutional and political crisis in the European Union, and how this breakdown continues to affect EU external migration policy.

Reports

January 2022

Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System

The European push to increase migrant returns has led to new investments in assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs. Yet it is hard to tell whether these investments are paying off. This report explores what is and is not known about returnee reintegration, and how improved monitoring and evaluation would help bridge knowledge gaps and inform future decisions about programming, funding, and strategy.

Policy Briefs

December 2021

How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?

Europe has announced it will launch a set of Talent Partnerships, combining new mobility schemes for workers or students with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries. As the details are being hammered out, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions these partnerships could help meet European labor market needs and provide tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves.

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 9, 2021

The Corporate World’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, its Omicron Variant, Digital Nomad Visas & More

How has the business world responded to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic, we speak with two former government officials who are now in the private sector—Ian Robinson of the immigration law firm Fragomen and Brendan Ryan, CEO of Nomadic, about the trends and policy environment shaping business mobility decisions.

Expert Q&A, Audio

November 5, 2021

Immigrant Integration: Essential to the Success of Immigration Policy

In this World of Migration podcast episode, Margie McHugh, director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, chats with Ivana Tú Nhi Giang about the important role of integration, for immigrants themselves and the broader society, and the varying degrees of intentionality in integration policy design around the world.

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