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.

Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind

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.

European Union flag composed of binary code

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

Commentaries March 2024 As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge By Anna Terrón Cusí and Andrew Selee	Articles March 20, 2024 Global Affordable Housing Shortages Can Harm Migrant Reception and Integration By Benedicta Solf, Lindsey Guerrero, and Selena Sherzad
Reports March 2024 Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe By Frey Lindsay	Reports January 2024 Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians By Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Reports January 2024 Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado	Commentaries December 2023 One Phase Closes for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Now Another Begins By Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Policy Briefs December 2023 What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum? By Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens	Articles December 6, 2023 Often Shut Out of the Financial System, Refugees and Other Migrants Face Economic Integration Challenges By Ting Zhang

Pages

Reports March 2024 Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe By Frey Lindsay	Reports January 2024 Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians By Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Reports January 2024 Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado	Policy Briefs December 2023 What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum? By Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens
Policy Briefs October 2023 Why Matching Matters: Improving Outcomes in Refugee Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways By Craig Damian Smith and Emma Ugolini	Policy Briefs October 2023 From Safe Homes to Sponsors: Lessons from the Ukraine Hosting Response for Refugee Sponsorship Programs By Susan Fratzke, Viola Pulkkinen and Emma Ugolini
Reports September 2023 Attracting, Retaining, and Diversifying Sponsors for Refugees in Community Sponsorship Programs By Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Nadja Dumann, Florian Tissot and Admir Skodo	Reports June 2023 Improving Stakeholder Coordination in Refugee Resettlement: A Path to More Effective, Inclusive Programs By Admir Skodo and Maria Belen Zanzuchi

Pages

Housing construction site in California.

Feature

March 20, 2024

Global Affordable Housing Shortages Can Harm Migrant Reception and Integration

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.

Feature

December 6, 2023

Often Shut Out of the Financial System, Refugees and Other Migrants Face Economic Integration Challenges

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.

Feature

July 27, 2023

Technology Can Be Transformative for Refugees, but It Can Also Hold Them Back

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.

Feature

May 31, 2023

Global Spending on Immigration Enforcement Is Higher than Ever and Rising

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.

Profile

April 18, 2023

A Pragmatic Bet: The Evolution of Spain’s Immigration System

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

Video

April 27, 2023

Toward a Road Map for Digitalization in the EU Humanitarian Protection Space

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

Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets

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

Ukrainian Displacement in Europe, One Year Later

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

A Century of Climate Migration Upheaval? An Audacious Prediction for the Future

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

The Ukrainian Displacement Crisis: A Conversation with the European Commission's Director General for Migration and Home Affairs

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.

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.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

European Union

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages