E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
European Union

European Union

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In the European Union, enlargement, special arrangements for the expansion of the Schengen Area, and the gradual development of a stronger EU role in immigration have added new complexity to the policy landscape, leading to both new patterns of movement and new policies for governing immigration from outside of the European Union's 27 Member States. The research offered here focuses on migration policies, trends, and common challenges that affect Europe at a supranational level—from free movement to asylum policy and the management of EU borders.

Recent Activity

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe
Commentaries
March 2024
By  Anna Terrón Cusí and Andrew Selee
Housing construction site in California.
Articles
Cover image for Expanding Protection Options?
Reports
January 2024
By  Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Cover image for Confronting Compassion Fatigue
Reports
January 2024
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado
Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind
Commentaries
December 2023
By  Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Cover image for What Role Could Digital Technologies Play...
Policy Briefs
December 2023
By  Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens
A loan officer in Kenya.

Pages

Cover image for Expanding Protection Options?
Reports
January 2024
By  Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Cover image for Confronting Compassion Fatigue
Reports
January 2024
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado
Cover image for What Role Could Digital Technologies Play...
Policy Briefs
December 2023
By  Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens
Cover image for Why Matching Matters
Policy Briefs
October 2023
By  Craig Damian Smith and Emma Ugolini
Cover image for From Safe Homes to Sponsor policy brief
Policy Briefs
October 2023
By  Susan Fratzke, Viola Pulkkinen and Emma Ugolini
Cover image for Attracting, Retaining, and Diversifying Sponsors
Reports
September 2023
By  Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Nadja Dumann, Florian Tissot and Admir Skodo

Pages

Housing construction site in California.

One-fifth of the planet lacks adequate housing. That scarcity, expected to affect 3 billion people by 2030, is a problem for native-born and immigrant communities alike. The global housing shortage can aggravate tensions over immigration and lead to integration challenges for new arrivals, as this article details.

A loan officer in Kenya.

Credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services are often critical in order to fully participate in the modern world. Yet many refugees and other forced migrants have trouble obtaining these seemingly simple tools, preventing them from full integration. This article outlines humanitarian migrants’ needs for financial services and the barriers that can arise.

Venezuelan migrants charge their phones and other devices at a power point in Boa Vista, Brazil.

While smartphones and other technologies can assist decision-making, they do not always improve migrants’ journeys or lives. Forcibly displaced populations can face barriers in the form of limited internet access and low levels of digital literacy. Digital tools may also expose them to government surveillance and raise anxiety about social relations with loved ones. This article underscores refugees' complex relationships with technology.

A double border wall leads to a boat launch in Yuma, Arizona.

Budgets for border security and interior immigration enforcement have been on the rise in places including the United States and the European Union. The spending is a result of the heightened focus on securitization by the Global North and has led to a ballooning private industry. This article explains the trend.

Farmworkers in Murcia, Spain

Historically a country of emigration, Spain rapidly transitioned to become one of Europe’s major immigration destinations in just a few years. Remarkably, this evolution occurred with minimal political backlash, even as the country suffered through a crippling economic and labor crisis. This country profile examines the trends and policies that led to this astonishing development.

Pages

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe
Commentaries
March 2024
By  Anna Terrón Cusí and Andrew Selee
Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind
Commentaries
December 2023
By  Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Photo of a teacher from Ukraine organizing activities for refugee children in Moldova
Commentaries
February 2023
By  Hanne Beirens, Lucía Salgado and Jasmijn Slootjes
Image of women and young children from Ukraine arriving at train station in Bucharest
Commentaries
October 2022
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper
A woman in a winter coat receives food from a woman in an orange safety vest at a train station in P
Commentaries
May 2022
By  Meghan Benton and Andrew Selee

Pages

Video
April 27, 2023

Digital solutions have been a lifeline for many governments and stakeholders involved in the reception and integration of millions of displaced Ukrainians. While digitalization holds great potential, digital tools also carry risk. This MPI Europe webinar examines the trade-offs, identifies lessons learned, and explores how digital tools might strengthen migration and integration systems.

Video, Audio
April 11, 2023

Marking the launch of MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs.

Video, Audio
February 14, 2023

Marking one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting massive displacement crisis, this MPI Europe webinar examines the situation of those fleeing the war who have found refuge in Europe, implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, integration outcomes and challenges for Ukrainian refugees, and plans for a future that contemplates reintegration for Ukrainians who will

Expert Q&A, Audio
December 15, 2022

As the planet’s temperature warms, award-winning environmental journalist Gaia Vince thinks humanity is facing a chaotic century of mass migration spurred by climate change? In this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration, she contemplates a future in which hundreds of millions of people move from one part of the globe to another.

Video, Audio
December 13, 2022

Monique Pariat, the European Commission’s Director General for Migration and Home Affairs, spoke to the DC policy community on Europe’s rapid response to the Ukrainian displacement crisis, lessons learned, and considerations for future policies.

Pages

Recent Activity

Commentaries
February 2022

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.

Articles

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

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

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

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.

Commentaries
October 2021

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

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

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.

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