E.g., 06/04/2026
E.g., 06/04/2026
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

A road sign in Kazakhstan.
Articles
Cover image for Building Refugee-Inclusive Labor Mobility Pathways
Reports
February 2026
By  María Belén Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper and Abigail Goldfarb
Worker holds stack of paperwork
Short Reads
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, Nurbanu Hayır and María Belén Zanzuchi
Cover image for Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labour Migration Corridors to Europe
Reports
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, María Belén Zanzuchi, Abigail Goldfarb, Ravenna Sohst and Bertrand Steiner
Cover image for Building Refugee-Inclusive Labor Mobility Pathways
Reports
February 2026
By  María Belén Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper and Abigail Goldfarb
Cover image for Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labour Migration Corridors to Europe
Reports
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, María Belén Zanzuchi, Abigail Goldfarb, Ravenna Sohst and Bertrand Steiner
Cover image for Reframing Return and Reintegration
Policy Briefs
October 2025
By  Bertrand Steiner, Adèle Appriou, Ravenna Sohst and Camille Le Coz
Cover image for How Can Labor Migration Policies Help Tackle Europe’s Looming Skills Crisis?
Reports
June 2025
By  Kate Hooper, Tesseltje de Lange and Jasmijn Slootjes
Cover image for Small Boats, Big Stakes
Policy Briefs
June 2025
By  Meghan Benton, Susan Fratzke and Nurbanu Hayır
Cover image for Consideraciones clave para futuros programas de protección temporal...
Reports
June 2025
By  Diego Chaves-González, María Jesús Mora, Ana Alanis and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Cover image for Key Considerations for Future Temporary Protection and Regularization Programs...
Reports
June 2025
By  Diego Chaves-González, María Jesús Mora, Ana Alanis and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
A road sign in Kazakhstan.

Patterns of migration from Central Asia are changing amid deteriorating conditions in Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and a 2024 terrorist attack in Moscow blamed on Tajik nationals. Some labor migrants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are looking to new destinations in Europe and beyond, bringing its own set of challenges.

Copenhagen's Nyhavn district.

Denmark has gradually moved to a restrictive approach toward humanitarian protection, in a shift that has made it something of a leader for other countries—and an anomaly as it has done so under a center-left government. As this country profile explains, Danish policymakers have pioneered policies that limit protection, including making it temporary.

Roma people displaced from Ukraine.

While millions of Ukrainians have sought refuge across Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, not every displaced person has been welcomed equally. Displacement has come with additional barriers for many of the estimated 100,000 Roma people who fled the country, continuing a pattern of exclusion and marginalization experienced by Roma in Europe across generations, as this article details.

Turkish authorities assist a migrant.

Turkey is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to halt irregular migration and break up migrant smuggling networks. In recent years, the government has installed a three-meter-high wall along much of its borders with Syria and Iran, arrested thousands of smugglers, and engaged in agreements and cooperation with the European Union. This article explains the motivations behind the enforcement and how the strategy is evolving.

A farmworker from Africa in a field in Southern Italy.

Many migrant farmworkers in Italy work under exploitative conditions that some critics describe as modern-day slavery. Often, asylum seekers and other migrants originally hoping to transit Italy for other points end up stuck in the country. While Italian migration policy has generally become more restrictive, policymakers also have sought to provide some legal certainty, especially for agricultural workers.

Worker holds stack of paperwork
Short Reads
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, Nurbanu Hayır and María Belén Zanzuchi
Equipment for a USAID project in Indonesia
Short Reads
April 2025
By  Lawrence Huang, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Susan Fratzke
A German border sign next to a road
Short Reads
September 2024
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Camille Le Coz
European and UK leaders at 2024 European Political Community summit
Short Reads
July 2024
By  Camille Le Coz and Meghan Benton
Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe
Short Reads
March 2024
By  Anna Terrón Cusí and Andrew Selee
Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind
Short Reads
December 2023
By  Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Photo of a teacher from Ukraine organizing activities for refugee children in Moldova
Short Reads
February 2023
By  Hanne Beirens, Lucía Salgado and Jasmijn Slootjes
Image of women and young children from Ukraine arriving at train station in Bucharest
Short Reads
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
Short Reads
May 2022
By  Meghan Benton and Andrew Selee
Belén Zanzuchi speaking on Webinar
Video, Audio
February 26, 2026

This webinar explored labor migration pathways as a potential avenue for qualified refugees to access protection in Europe while helping meet destination countries’ skill needs. Speakers examined ways to make work visas more accessible to qualified refugees and how to remove barriers that prevent refugees from entering via the labor pathway. 

Person at airport looking at phone
Video, Audio
January 13, 2026

Featuring a study on the role that counselling and reintegration programs can play in shaping migrants' return decisions, this webinar examines how timing of such interventions, counselling approaches, and collaboration with trusted origin-country partners can help make these programs more effective.

Healthcare workers helps patient
Video, Audio
December 11, 2025

Featuring discussion of a study that examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU Member States and partner countries, this webinar offers insights on how to connect employers and workers, promote skills development, protect migrant workers, and maximize benefits for both countries of origin and

Afghan Resettlement Programme
Video
September 10, 2025

This discussion, held in Berlin in collaboration with the Robert Bosch Stiftung, examines the relationship between migration policy, integration approaches, public trust, and democratic resilience in Europe and beyond.

Three people talk outside
Video
January 23, 2025

Connecting with and providing counselling to irregular migrants is crucial for addressing irregular migration in Europe yet remains a challenging and underexplored area.

Recent Activity

Articles

Patterns of migration from Central Asia are changing amid deteriorating conditions in Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and a 2024 terrorist attack in Moscow blamed on Tajik nationals. Some labor migrants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are looking to new destinations in Europe and beyond, bringing its own set of challenges.

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 26, 2026

This webinar explored labor migration pathways as a potential avenue for qualified refugees to access protection in Europe while helping meet destination countries’ skill needs. Speakers examined ways to make work visas more accessible to qualified refugees and how to remove barriers that prevent refugees from entering via the labor pathway. 

Reports
February 2026

When refugees can access mainstream work visas, this offers opportunities to find safety while also helping destination countries meet pressing labor needs. Yet the design of many work visas puts them out of reach for well-qualified refugees. This visa evaluation framework and scorecard highlight how different characteristics can make a visa more or less accessible, transparent, and predictable.

Video, Audio, Webinars
January 13, 2026

Featuring a study on the role that counselling and reintegration programs can play in shaping migrants' return decisions, this webinar examines how timing of such interventions, counselling approaches, and collaboration with trusted origin-country partners can help make these programs more effective.

Short Reads
December 2025

The European Commission's forthcoming visa strategy must be complemented by national-level policy change given that EU-wide channels represent a small share of total legal migration pathways to Europe. To compete more fully for global talent, European governments will need faster, clearer, and more predictable visa procedures, as this short read explains.

Reports
December 2025

Policymakers across the European Union are seeking ways to incentivize third-country nationals with return orders to comply and voluntarily depart. This study examines whether and how two such measures—return counselling and reintegration assistance—can play a role in migrant decision-making, taking the Netherlands as a case study.

Video, Audio, Webinars
December 11, 2025

Featuring discussion of a study that examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU Member States and partner countries, this webinar offers insights on how to connect employers and workers, promote skills development, protect migrant workers, and maximize benefits for both countries of origin and destination.

Reports
December 2025

Labor and skills shortages threaten the European Union’s economic growth. Attracting workers with sought-after skills from abroad will be an important means of addressing these challenges. This report examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU and non-EU countries, with the aim of benefiting countries of destination and origin, employers, and migrant workers alike.