E.g., 09/27/2023
E.g., 09/27/2023
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.

Syrian family and an Irish volunteer in a community sponsorship program
Reports

Attracting, Retaining, and Diversifying Sponsors for Refugees in Community Sponsorship Programs

By involving community members in welcoming refugee newcomers, community sponsorship programs hold the potential to open new protection pathways, better support refugee integration, and strengthen social cohesion. This MPI Europe report explores common challenges to the recruitment and retention of sponsors as well as strategies to address them, with a close look at experiences in Belgium, Germany, and Ireland.

Afghan refugees board a plane to be resettled
Reports

Improving Stakeholder Coordination in Refugee Resettlement: A Path to More Effective, Inclusive Programs

Many actors have a hand in refugee resettlement, including national and local governments, international organizations, and civil society. Strong coordination between these stakeholders is needed if resettlement programs are to operate smoothly, provide appropriate support to refugees, and potentially grow. This report explores common challenges to developing this type of coordination as well as strategies to address them.

Recent Activity

Taking Stock of Refugee Resettlement: Policy Objectives, Practical Tradeoffs, and the Evidence Base
Reports
May 2017
Taking Stock of Refugee Resettlement: Policy Objectives, Practical Tradeoffs, and the Evidence Base
By  Hanne Beirens and Susan Fratzke
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Articles
May 18, 2017
Russia: A Migration System with Soviet Roots
By Olga Chudinovskikh and Mikhail Denisenko
us embassy london mosque
Articles
May 10, 2017
Strife Abroad, Responses at Home: Muslims in the West and Conflict Spillover
By Juris Pupcenoks
EVENT PH 2016.4.12 flickr European Union Plenary debate on Greece with PM Alexis Tsipras Marine Le Pen (ENF, France)
Multimedia
April 12, 2017
Immigration and its Discontents: European Elections and Future Policy
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Commentaries
March 2017
A Game of Chess, Not Tennis: Unraveling the Rights and Status of “Brexpats”
By  Elizabeth Collett and Meghan Benton
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Commentaries
March 2017
The Dutch Elections: How to Lose and Still Shape the Direction of a Country—and Possibly a Continent?
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
AfricanSwitzerland Thomas8047 Flickr
Articles
March 16, 2017
Straddling Two Worlds: Highly Skilled Migrants from Senegambia and Switzerland
By Haddy Sarr
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Commentaries
March 2017
The Migration Crisis Is Over: Long Live the Migration Crisis
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou

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Reports
November 2008
Emerging Demographic Patterns across the Mediterranean and their Implications for Migration through 2030
By  Philippe Fargues
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Reports
November 2008
Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa
By  Wolfgang Lutz, Warren Sanderson, Sergei Scherbov and Samir K.C.
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Reports
November 2008
Talent in the 21st-Century Economy
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville and Hiroyuki Tanaka
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Reports
November 2008
The Growing Global Demand for Students as Skilled Migrants
By  Lesleyanne Hawthorne
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Reports
October 2008
Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville and Hiroyuki Tanaka
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Policy Briefs
September 2008
Learning by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
By  Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Aaron Terrazas
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Policy Briefs
July 2008
Hometown Associations: An Untapped Resource for Immigrant Integration?
By  Aaron Terrazas, Jamie Durana and Will Somerville
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Reports
June 2008
Soft, Scarce, and Super Skills: Sourcing the Next Generation of Migrant Workers in Europe
By  Elizabeth Collett and Fabian Zuleeg

Pages

Top Ten
December 3, 2007
Mobility Partnerships, the Latest Policy Fashion

How do migrant sending and receiving countries both get more of what they want—without the receiving countries committing to a new stream of permanent migration? The European Union thinks it may have found an answer in the concept of "mobility partnerships."

Top Ten
December 3, 2007
Wanted More Than Ever: The Highly Skilled

While the countries that make a point of competing for the world's best and brightest tweaked their entry systems in 2007, the European Commission took a bold leap in late October: it formally proposed a European Union "Blue Card" scheme for admitting highly qualified non-EU workers who already have a work contract in a Member State and professional qualifications.

Top Ten
December 3, 2007
Integration Means Belonging

All the nuanced meanings of "belonging" describe integration trends in industrialized countries in 2007, including the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Top Ten
December 3, 2007
Migration and Development Issues: No Longer a Novelty in Policy Discussions

The language of migration and development—remittances, diaspora, brain drain, circular migration—has become standard among researchers and NGOs interested in development issues. In 2007, that language formally became part of the migration policy agenda, particularly in Europe.

Top Ten
December 3, 2007
Managing Global Travel with Technology and Cooperation

Countries continue to adopt technological means of supporting border and immigration officials' decisions about what travelers pose risks or are barred by law, making biometrics the norm and not the exception.

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Recent Activity

Reports
May 2017

Taking Stock of Refugee Resettlement: Policy Objectives, Practical Tradeoffs, and the Evidence Base

With displacement at a record high, governments around the world are looking for ways to jumpstart, expand, or maximize the impact of their refugee resettlement programs. Yet the evidence base regarding the effectiveness of such programs is particularly thin. This report maps the gaps in knowledge that exist and identifies areas where further research could help inform policymakers' actions.

Articles
May 18, 2017

Russia: A Migration System with Soviet Roots

The history of dynamic migration flows throughout the Soviet Union pre- and post-collapse has significantly shaped the current migration reality in Russia. Even as borders have shifted and policies changed, inflows and outflows still occur mostly within the former Soviet space. As this article explores, Russia has worked in recent decades to strengthen its migration management system and update its residence and citizenship policies.

Articles
May 10, 2017

Strife Abroad, Responses at Home: Muslims in the West and Conflict Spillover

A number of high-profile terrorist attacks in the West have raised questions about why geopolitical events sometimes trigger strong, violent reactions in certain diaspora communities, but not in others. What could be behind this divergence in responses? This article examines how Muslim communities in London and Detroit have reacted to conflict abroad, as well as the factors that drive reactive conflict spillover.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 12, 2017

Immigration and its Discontents: European Elections and Future Policy

Public anxiety about immigration and the fast pace of social change has reached a boiling point in many parts of Europe, contributing (in part) to the ascent of populist far-right parties. This discussion focuses on how the French election is unfolding, what we can learn from Brexit and the Dutch elections, and what these results portend (if anything) for the next round of political contests in Europe. Experts consider how governments can manage broader public concerns about rapid social change, economic opportunity, and security in ways that can reduce public anxiety over immigration and restore the public's trust. 

Commentaries
March 2017

A Game of Chess, Not Tennis: Unraveling the Rights and Status of “Brexpats”

As the process of removing the United Kingdom from the European Union gets underway, the rights of the 1.2 million UK citizens or “Brexpats” who have chosen to live in one of the 27 other EU countries have been largely overshadowed. This MPI Europe commentary explores some of the many complexities ahead in negotiating rights for these individuals in a post-Brexit world.

Commentaries
March 2017

The Dutch Elections: How to Lose and Still Shape the Direction of a Country—and Possibly a Continent?

The failure of Geert Wilders’ right-wing, anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV) to become the top vote-getter in the Dutch parliamentary elections is being hailed as proof of the limits of anti-Muslim rhetoric and even the “waning” of the appeal of right-wing populism. But as this commentary explores, a closer reading leads one to a more nuanced interpretation of the results and the recognition that Wilders will remain a major force.

Articles
March 16, 2017

Straddling Two Worlds: Highly Skilled Migrants from Senegambia and Switzerland

In recent years, Switzerland has become a popular destination for highly skilled migrants, including from the Senegambia region of West Africa. Meanwhile, migration also flows the opposite way with Swiss migrants heading to Senegal and The Gambia. This article compares and contrasts the experiences of these migrants at destination as well as their motivations to migrate and attitudes toward remittances and citizenship.

Commentaries
March 2017

The Migration Crisis Is Over: Long Live the Migration Crisis

While the chaos of 2015 has abated, the conditions that fuelled huge spontaneous flows of asylum seekers and migrants to Europe have not changed. Europe faces a fundamental governance test that is undermining the legitimacy of both national and European institutions and, more directly, the integrity of management structures of Member States most affected by spontaneous migration. This commentary by Demetrios Papademetriou explores the challenges and way forward.

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