European Union

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.

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Commentaries

One Phase Closes for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Now Another Begins

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum agreed in December 2023 by EU Member States and the European Parliament after lengthy negotiation will, without a doubt, go down in history as a signal political accomplishment. But will it result in better management of migration and asylum systems in a complex era? The outcome will turn on implementation and communication, this MPI Europe commentary explains.

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Policy Briefs

What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum?

With EU migration systems under strain, many observers have high hopes that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be able to help Europe address pressing challenges. This policy brief explores how digital technologies could support the implementation of the pact, should it be approved, as well as areas where caution is merited.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs November 2018 After the Divorce: British Families Living in the EU-27 Post-Brexit By Aliyyah Ahad	Policy Briefs November 2018 The End of the Retirement Dream? British Pensioners in the European Union after Brexit By Helen McCarthy
Commentaries October 2018 Three Things the European Union Can Do to Support Private Sponsorship for Refugees By Susan Fratzke and Hanne Beirens	Articles October 18, 2018 After Revolution, Tunisian Migration Governance Has Changed. Has EU Policy? By Luca Lixi
Policy Briefs August 2018 Deciding Which Road to Take: Insights into How Migrants and Refugees in Greece Plan Onward Movement By Katie Kuschminder	Reports June 2018 After the Storm: Learning from the EU Response to the Migration Crisis By Elizabeth Collett and Camille Le Coz
Commentaries June 2018 Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again By Elizabeth Collett and Susan Fratzke	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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Policy Briefs September 2005 The 'Regularization' Option in Managing Illegal Migration More Effectively: A Comparative Perspective By Demetrios G. Papademetriou	Policy Briefs May 2004 The Enlargement of an 'Area of Freedom, Security and Justice': Managing Migration in a European Union of 25 Members By Joanne van Selm
Reports March 2004 The EU as a Global Player in the Refugee Protection Regime By Joanne van Selm	Policy Briefs December 2003 Rediscovering Resettlement By Gregor Noll and Joanne van Selm
Reports October 2003 The Feasibility of Setting Up Resettlement Schemes in EU Member States or at EU Level By Joanne van Selm, Erin Patrick, Tamara Woroby and Monica Matts	Reports October 2003 The Strategic Use of Resettlement By Joanne van Selm
Reports October 2003 Perceptions of Afghan Refugees By Joanne van Selm	Policy Briefs April 2003 Reconciling Refugee Protection and Security Concerns in Wartime: The Case of Iraq By Monette Zard and Erin Patrick

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Feature

October 1, 2009

Wedding Bells Are Ringing: Increasing Rates of Intermarriage in Germany

Intermarriage is considered a test of integration: the higher the rate, the more integrated the group. Olga Nottmeyer of DIW Berlin finds that while immigrants from Turkey, by far Germany's largest immigrant group, have had low rates of intermarriage in the first generation, intermarriage rates among second-generation Turkish men are increasing.

Feature

September 15, 2009

EU Mobility Partnerships: Expression of a New Compromise

In recent years, the European Union has come to recognize that it cannot prevent migration and that it needs a different approach to managing flows from its poorer neighbors. Jean-Pierre Cassarino of the European University Institute looks at the rationale for mobility partnerships and what they will need to be effective.

Profile

September 1, 2009

Ireland: From Rapid Immigration to Recession

Ireland's economy and openness to labor migration from new EU Member States fueled immigration flows, including return migration, over the past few years. But the global recession has hit the country hard, and unemployment among both foreigners and Irish nationals is rising. Emma Quinn of the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin updates the Ireland country profile with a look at recent trends, policies, and data.

Profile

July 21, 2009

United Kingdom: A Reluctant Country of Immigration

Recent immigration to the United Kingdom is larger and more diverse than at any point in its history. This updated profile examines how the global recession is affecting migration flows, the latest immigration and asylum data, and overviews of new immigration and integration policies.

Feature

June 9, 2009

Switzerland's Non-EU Immigrants: Their Integration and Swiss Attitudes

Nearly 40 percent of Switzerland's 1.6 million foreign residents come from countries outside the European Union. Julie Schindall examines the latest data on this population, integration indicators and policies, and political rhetoric and public opinion.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

March 2019

Money Wise: Improving How EU Funds Support Migration and Integration Policy Objectives

European policymakers are negotiating the blueprint for the next EU funding cycle—a plan that will determine how much money is available for migration and integration aims, what it can be used for, and who can access it. This policy brief explores some of the limitations of EU funds, as well as strategies that could help them more effectively serve migration and integration policy goals.

Video, Audio

January 24, 2019

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: A Sense of Home

The third Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion conference in Brussels, co-organized by MPI Europe with the U.S. and Canadian Missions to the European Union and the European Economic and Social Committee, explored how innovations in living situations for refugees can promote community-driven inclusion, overcome divisions, facilitate economic opportunities, and foster a sense of "home."

Commentaries

January 2019

Too Little, Too Late? Contingency Planning for UK Nationals in Case of a No-Deal Brexit

Following the dramatic defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the UK Parliament this week, all bets are off when it comes to whether the United Kingdom will crash out of the European Union on March 29 without a Brexit deal. A no-deal scenario would have seismic ramifications for the legal residence, work rights, benefits and pensions, and health care for nearly 1 million UK nationals living on the continent.

Articles

January 10, 2019

An “Informal” Turn in the European Union’s Migrant Returns Policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa

The European Union's focus on formal readmission agreements with migrant-origin countries to manage the return of irregular migrants and failed asylum seekers has given way since 2016 to informal arrangements. This article explores the potential effect that nonbinding readmission pacts could have on migrant returns to sub-Saharan Africa, where return rates from EU Member States have been low.

Articles

December 18, 2018

Children on the Frontlines

Hardline migration and asylum policies in the United States and Australia in 2018 hit turbulence when their effects on the most vulnerable—young children—provoked widespread public revulsion and prompted a retreat, at least temporarily. Still, public outcry over the treatment of child migrants and asylum seekers often runs up against the intractability of the problems facing governments and the lack of good solutions.

Articles

December 14, 2018

Intensifying Focus on Migrant Returns Takes a More Global Stage

Questions of how, when, and under what conditions migrants and asylum seekers can be returned to their origin countries have featured prominently in international discussions of migration in 2018. Crucially, so too has an increased interest on the part of both destination and origin countries in making reintegration assistance more effective to help ensure that return is sustainable.

Articles

December 13, 2018

Asylum Hangover? Governments Seek to Narrow Avenues for Humanitarian Protection

Faced with absorbing vast numbers of asylum seekers who headed to Europe during the 2015-16 migration crisis and the ongoing arrival of much smaller, but steady flows of Central Americans at the U.S.-Mexico border, EU Member States and the United States in 2018 took or explored significant steps to narrow asylum and harden policies.

Articles

December 11, 2018

Threat of Hard Brexit Looms as Exit Date Nears

With the United Kingdom’s scheduled March 2019 departure from the European Union around the corner and approval of an exit deal by the UK Parliament in deep disarray, the future for approximately 5 million EU nationals living in the United Kingdom and Britons resident in the EU-27 remained unresolved. This article examines the citizens' rights issues that have arisen and what Brexit, hard or otherwise, might bring.

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