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The UK's New Europeans: Progress and Challenges Five Years After Accession
The enlargement of the European Union has fundamentally changed migration patterns to the United Kingdom. An estimated 1.5 million workers have come to the United Kingdom from new EU Member States since May 2004, accounting for about half of all labor migration during that period. Though employment rates for these new European citizens are high, areas of concern remain because their wages are low and the workers, often despite significant education, are concentrated in unskilled labor sectors. This report, commissioned by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, also concludes that the influx of workers may be having a slight negative impact on the wages of the lowest-paid British workers.
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Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By Hiroyuki Tanaka, Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, and Paul De Hert
The attempted Christmas Day attack on a US airliner has refocused interest on the data collected by governments on international travelers, and how information sharing can be used to prevent terrorism and secure travel if properly shared and analyzed. In the wake of 9/11, the United States and European Union worked out agreements to expand the sharing of personal information about international travelers as a means to prevent acts of terrorism and fight international crime. However, as this report explores, negotiations on a binding US-EU agreement that will govern the sharing of personal information for law enforcement purposes – while high on the transatlantic policy agenda – face significant challenges.
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 IMMIGRATION POLICY IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
By Douglas B. Klusmeyer and Demetrios G. Papademetriou
This book, co-authored by MPI President Demetrios Papademetriou, examines the crossroads at which German migration policy finds itself, caught between a 50-year history of missed opportunities and serious new challenges. The authors offer a comprehensive and critical examination of the history of German migration law and policy from the Federal Republic's inception in 1949 to the present, focusing on the challenges confronting policymakers.
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 Migration, Public Opinion and Politics
This third book of the Transatlantic Council on Migration, published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, analyzes how media coverage, public opinion and political rhetoric can play an important role in advancing — or impeding — immigration policy reforms in Europe and the United States. The volume examines what publics across the Atlantic think about immigrants and immigration. It also asks: What effect does media coverage have on the prospects for changing the laws and practices that shape immigration and immigrant integration? And how should politicians and others who champion reform speak about immigration? To order a copy, click here.
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
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Immigration in the United Kingdom: The Recession
and Beyond
By Will Somerville and Madeleine Sumption
Will the recession reduce immigrant inflows to the United Kingdom
and encourage return migration as immigrants find it more difficult
to get jobs? There is already evidence that Eastern European
workers are arriving in significantly smaller numbers. Still,
the report makes clear that immigration will by no means cease
during the recession in part because the downturn also is affecting
immigrant-source countries and because migration decisions are
not governed solely by economic concerns.
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Immigration and the Labor Market: Theory, Evidence, and Policy
By Will Somerville and Madeleine Sumption
With the current economic downturn leading to questions over
the value of economic migration, this report examines labor-market
conditions in the United Kingdom. While there is consensus among
economic researchers that immigration has only a small impact
on the average wages of all workers, the report suggests that
policymakers cannot ignore immigrants’ role in the labor
market. Interventions to assist low-skilled workers, integration
policies, and employer-sponsored training are essential tools
to mitigate real and perceived effects of immigration.
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Charting the Demographic Course across the Mediterranean
By Philippe Fargues
This paper, prepared for the Transatlantic Council on Migration,
examines the demographic future for the Middle East and North
Africa through 2030 – and notes that the MENA region’s
growing supply of young, educated workers is occurring against
the backdrop of Europe’s aging population and below-replacement
fertility. While at first sight it appears obvious that the MENA
region will play a pivotal role in Europe’s hunt for skilled
workers, the paper outlines that the European Union isn’t
the sole destination for MENA migrants.
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Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa: The Most
Demographically Extreme Regions
By Wolfgang Lutz, Warren Sanderson, Sergei Scherbov, and Samir
K.C.
The world’s two most demographically extreme regions are
sub-Saharan Africa, which is experiencing the most rapid population
growth, and Eastern Europe, which has the fastest shrinking population.
In this paper, prepared for the Transatlantic Council on Migration,
the authors track the region’s divergent paths through
2030 and examine labor-force trends, educational attainment,
and implications for future migration to Europe.
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Migration and the Economic
Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union
 By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Will Somerville
As unemployment rises and household budgets shrink across the European
Union, policymakers, analysts, and the public are beginning to ask what
the consequences will be with respect to immigration. The implications
of the recession should not be underestimated. The downturn is likely
to affect the kind of immigrants that arrive and leave, with implications
for labor supply in certain sectors, for integration, and for the host
communities.
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Learning
by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
 By
Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, and Aaron Terrazas
Increasingly, policymakers are considering whether circular migration could improve
the likelihood that global mobility gains will be shared by migrant-origin and
destination countries alike — as well as by migrants themselves. This MPI
Insight examines the record of circular migration, both where it has arisen naturally
and where governments have taken action to encourage it.
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Report | Press Release
Purchase a hard copy at the MPI bookstore: US | International
Integrating
Islam: A New Chapter in “Church-State” Relations
By Jonathan Laurence, Boston College, October 2007
With at least 15 million Muslims now residing in Europe, Islam
is Europe’s second largest religion. A new report provides
a roadmap for how European governments can best engage Muslim
communities on issues related to religious practice and integration.
The primary challenges for European governments are to safeguard
religious freedoms and to ensure a voice for Muslim populations,
while combating extremism and adapting European societies to
diverse religious communities. Drawing on examples from throughout
the European Union, the report provides a framework for establishing
dialogues that can play a critical role in integrating newcomers
of various faiths, many of whom still have foreign nationality.
Full Report | Press Release
The children that Europe forgot
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Werner Weidenfeld,
Co-Chairs, Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration
Op-Ed in the European Voice, September 20, 2007
New Policy Solutions for Closing Educational Gaps for Immigrant Children
Three September 2007 studies present policymakers with ideas for how best to close achievement gaps between native-born students and immigrant students or the children of immigrants across European countries.
Early Education for Immigrant Children
By Paul Leseman, Utrecht University
Dr. Leseman looks at factors that create educational disadvantages among children of immigrants, including socioeconomic and psychological risks and lack of cognitive stimulation at home. He finds that while early education can improve the educational and socioeconomic position of low-income and minority communities, the program’s design is fundamental to its success. He recommends that policymakers focus on providing center-based care, with programs grounded in teaching children the host language and with strong outreach to minorities that includes additional help for parents. He also recommends that governments directly subsidize early-education programs rather than providing parents with vouchers, which can be confusing and are underused.
Pathways to Success for the Children of Immigrants
By Maurice Crul, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Crul looks at how the children of Turkish immigrants, the largest immigrant group in Europe, are faring across the continent. He finds disparities across countries in the age at which children start school, the number who drop out of secondary school, and the number of youth who are unemployed. He notes that, because immigrant students tend to start school at a linguistic and cultural disadvantage, compelling them to choose either an academic or vocational education “track” too early may relegate them to a less enriching education. Dr. Crul suggests a range of policy tools to avoid this outcome, such as establishing strong apprenticeship programs and allowing vocational students to switch back to academic schools if they show the potential to succeed.
Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed
By Gayle Christensen, Urban Institute, and Petra Stanat, Free University of Berlin
Drs. Christensen and Stanat draw on the results of a unique survey of school language policies and practices to close the achievement gap in 14 immigrant-receiving countries. The authors find that countries where immigrant and second-generation students succeed tend to have long-standing language support programs, for both primary and secondary students, with clearly defined goals and standards. The authors highlight Sweden; Victoria, Australia; and British Columbia, Canada, as places with smaller achievement gaps between native-born and immigrant students. These programs’ common strategies include centrally developed curricula, high program standards, time-intensive programs, support in both primary and secondary school, second-language teachers who have received specialized training, and cooperation between language and other teachers.
Complete list of MPI European-related research
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