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.

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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.

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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
July 2018
The Impact of Populist Radical-Right Parties on Immigration Policy Agendas: A Look at the Netherlands
By  Tjitske Akkerman
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Reports
June 2018
The Growth of the Radical Right in Nordic Countries: Observations from the Past 20 Years
By  Anders Widfeldt
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Reports
June 2018
After the Storm: Learning from the EU Response to the Migration Crisis
By  Elizabeth Collett and Camille Le Coz
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Commentaries
June 2018
Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again
By  Elizabeth Collett and Susan Fratzke
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Commentaries
June 2018
Horst Seehofer’s Migration Plan for Germany: Another Nail in the Coffin of Europe’s Asylum System?
By  Hanne Beirens
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Commentaries
May 2018
The New EU Migration-Related Fund Masks Deeper Questions over Policy Aims
By  Kate Hooper
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Reports
May 2018
Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion Conference Report: Maintaining Momentum and Creating Lasting Change
By  Liam Patuzzi and Alexandra Embiricos
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Multimedia
April 20, 2018
Making Every Encounter Count: Using Peer Support to Improve Refugee Resettlement

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Reports
June 2011
The Role of Civil Society in EU Migration Policy: Perspectives on the European Union's Engagement in its Neighborhood
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
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Reports
May 2011
Policies to Curb Unauthorized Employment
By  Madeleine Sumption
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Reports
April 2011
Pay-to-Go Schemes and Other Noncoercive Return Programs: Is Scale Possible?
By  Richard Black, Michael Collyer and Will Somerville
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Reports
March 2011
Immigrant Integration in Europe in a Time of Austerity
By  Elizabeth Collett
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Reports
March 2011
Transatlantic Cooperation on Travelers' Data Processing: From Sorting Countries to Sorting Individuals
By  Paul De Hert and Rocco Bellanova
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Reports
March 2011
A New Architecture for Border Management
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Elizabeth Collett
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Policy Briefs
December 2010
Immigrant Legalization in the United States and European Union: Policy Goals and Program Design
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Books
November 2010
Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy

Pages

Feature
February 28, 2011
Re-envisioning Security and the Movement of People

In the post-9/11 era, U.S. policymakers have increasingly used migration policy tools to strengthen national security. This piece highlights civil rights and liberties issues that point to the need to re-envision the relationship between security and mobility, and discusses a proposal to "secure human mobility."

Feature
February 23, 2011
Filling Labor Shortages through Immigration: An Overview of Shortage Lists and their Implications

Many governments use shortage lists to either facilitate or discourage economically-motivated immigration into particular occupations or fields, but the practice of doing so raises a variety of practical and philosophical questions. MPI's Madeleine Sumption discusses the challenges of maintaining shortage lists and developing immigration policies around them.

Profile
January 31, 2011
Finland's Balancing Act: The Labor Market, Humanitarian Relief, and Immigrant Integration

Arno Tanner of the Finnish Immigration Service and the Universities of Helsinki, and Tampere discusses the historical and current state of migration to and from Finland, and the country's immigration policy priorities going forward.

Feature
January 24, 2011
Unaccompanied Immigrant Children: A Growing Phenomenon with Few Easy Solutions

Destination countries of unaccompanied child migrants struggle with many questions related to why children migrate, how they should be received and processed, and whether they should be protected, integrated, or returned to their home countries. Amanda Levinson of ThirdSpace Consulting provides the context within which unaccompanied child migration occurs, and analyzes the policy response of the United States and European destination countries.

Top Ten
December 2, 2010
Crackdown on Illegal Migration Makes Greece Main Entry Point to Europe

When there's a will, there's a way — migrants seeking illegal entry have proven the old proverb true countless times as they and their smugglers have adapted to enforcement strategies. The latest development in the cat-and-mouse game comes not from the United States, but from Europe.

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Recent Activity

Reports
July 2018

The Impact of Populist Radical-Right Parties on Immigration Policy Agendas: A Look at the Netherlands

While commentators proclaimed the 2017 Dutch election results a rebuff of radical-right populism, this report makes clear that electoral success is not the only way to influence policymaking. Taking the Netherlands as a case study, it examines how radical-right parties in Western Europe have shaped immigration policy agendas and outcomes by rewriting narratives and forcing mainstream parties further to the right.

Reports
June 2018

The Growth of the Radical Right in Nordic Countries: Observations from the Past 20 Years

Though hardly new to most Nordic countries, radical-right parties have grown in popular support and political power in recent years. This report analyzes the role immigration has played in their rise and recent electoral fortunes in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It also examines the strategies other parties have adopted in an attempt to limit their growth.

Reports
June 2018

After the Storm: Learning from the EU Response to the Migration Crisis

As maritime arrivals climbed in 2015, EU policymakers struggled to mount a coordinated response. A range of ad hoc crisis-response tools emerged, but many officials worry that if another migration emergency were to hit Europe, the European Union may still be unprepared. This report traces the evolution of the EU response to the 2015–16 crisis and lays out recommendations to lock in progress and shore up weaknesses.

Commentaries
June 2018

Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again

European leaders have settled on a recurring proposition to address the ongoing political crisis on migration: the creation of asylum processing centers beyond EU borders. The plans championed by various EU leaders are diverse, the details fuzzy. What they have in common is a near-universal focus on shifting responsibility for dealing with refugees and migrants upstream, as this commentary examines.

Commentaries
June 2018

Horst Seehofer’s Migration Plan for Germany: Another Nail in the Coffin of Europe’s Asylum System?

Amid significant tensions over migration that could fracture Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition, a new "migration master plan" set to be unveiled by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer reportedly involves turning asylum seekers back at German borders and refusing them entry. This commentary explores the potential implications of the proposal, which has prompted concern about the ramifications for the Common European Asylum System.

Commentaries
May 2018

The New EU Migration-Related Fund Masks Deeper Questions over Policy Aims

The European Commission has proposed an 89.5 billion-euro fund to combat irregular migration by investing heavily in countries outside the European Union. This commentary argues the ultimate aims of the policy remain obscure, and with some of the money to be drawn from development aid funds is certain to raise tensions between institutions with conflicting goals and mandates.

Reports
May 2018

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion Conference Report: Maintaining Momentum and Creating Lasting Change

Fostering the social and economic inclusion of refugees has long been the domain of governments and NGOs. In the wake of the 2015–16 European migration and refugee crisis, however, new actors have emerged and taken on important roles in integrating newcomers. This report describes key discussions and takeaways from an MPI Europe conference on these developments.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 20, 2018

Making Every Encounter Count: Using Peer Support to Improve Refugee Resettlement

This webinar, featuring findings from an MPI Europe report, examines major challenges facing refugee resettlement peer-support projects in Europe and key lessons for Member States. 

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