EMN Studies and Policy Briefs

The Overview describes how main asylum and migration policies related to third-country nationals are organised in the Slovak Republic from the institutional perspective as well as from the perspective of their mutual relations. It is based on the information valid as of September 2021. Overviews are available also for other EU Member States, Georgia, Moldova and Norway.

The study provides an overview of existing policies and practices in EU Member States and Norway towards third-country nationals in a prolonged situation of irregular stay. The study focuses on those third-country nationals subject to a return decision but whose return was not enforced or was postponed, and on those without a return decision who are unknown to the authorities. The study looks into national legislative framework and policies towards irregular migrants. It maps approaches to different types of services for this category of migrants and their provision. It describes the ways of ending the long-term irregular stay. Finally, it deals with the challenges and future measures to address the situation of long-term irregular migrants that could be implemented at the EU level. The chapters also reflect on the pandemic situation.

The study maps the approaches of EU Member States and Norway to data management in different phases of the asylum procedure (making, registering, lodging and examining of the application). It covers the situation and development in the area for the period 2014-2020. It provides comparable information and examples touching different aspects of data management, including data cross-checking against national and international databases, data quality accuracy, and data protection issues. It also maps challenges and related responses. The study also briefly examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on data management in asylum procedure. The statistics cover the period 2014-2019.

The report maps the progress made by the EU Member States and Norway in 2019 with regards to the implementation of the recommendations laid down in the Commission Communication on the protection of children in migration. The report covers the following areas of protection: swift and comprehensive identification and protection; providing adequate reception in the EU; ensuring swift and effective access to status determination procedures and implementation of procedural safeguards; detention for the purpose of return of unaccompanied minors and families with children; ensuring durable solutions; transition to adulthood; cross-cutting actions.

The briefing paper is a summary of an online Roundtable on Sustainable migration from Africa to Europe that was organized by the European Migration Network (EMN) and EMN Norway on 9 December 2020. It focuses on the concept of sustainable migration by considering the whole-of-route approach from countries of origin to destination. By bringing together policymakers, researchers and representatives of different sectors and perspectives, the event brought a better understanding of how to design sustainable migration policies that work for Europe and non-European countries.

This briefing paper is a summary of a roundtable organized by the European Migration Network (EMN) in cooperation with the Joint Research Centre and DG HOME on 5 November 2020. The event offered an opportunity to discuss the EU policies in the area of labour migration and potential benefits and challenges that arise from a more sector-centred versus a skill-centred approach.

The study analyses the profile of seasonal workers and sectors they work in. It looks at the national strategies and measures taken in order to attract seasonal workers. It also examines to what extent the needs of labour market are filled by these workers. With regards to the pandemic situation during which the study was written it addresses the impact of COVID-19 on hiring seasonal workers. In the last chapter, it maps the application of protective aspects and rights of seasonal workers that stem from the Directive on Seasonal Workers.

Integration through acquisition of citizenship has become an important topic in many EU Member States in recent years, as the number of new migrants arriving in the EU has increased in recent years.

The new EMN Synthesis Report published on this topic shows that citizenship is seen by the EU Member States as either the culmination of the integration process or as facilitating the integration process.

The report provides a comparative overview of recent trends, frameworks and good practices from 24 EU Member States and Norway on the acquisition of citizenship for third-country nationals. It describes how national policies evolved over the past five years in relation to the acquisition of citizenship, what are the criteria and procedures in place, how costly and long is the process, what type of support do Member States provide to third-country nationals wishing to acquire citizenship and how do Member States see the acquisition of citizenship in relation to integration of migrants into a host society. The report also informs on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the processing of applications for citizenship.