European Immigrant Integration – The result of a complex, three-way process between the migrant, origin country, and country of destination

While the treatment of immigrant integration diverges significantly across the European Union (EU), Member States increas- ingly share an acceptance that the expected outcomes have thus far failed to materialise. A fresh approach to integration across the European Union is urgently needed, especially in the current climate, where social cohesion and economic resil- ience are being widely tested.

Measuring integration outcomes in destination countries and isolating those policy factors responsible is a difficult task. Integration outcomes are not uniform across national groups, nor are they the product of singular policy interventions. Rather, they are the result of a complex, three-way process between the migrant, origin country, and country of destination. Where some policy areas are conventionally seen as the prerogative of the destination country—the promotion of naturalisation, for instance—there is a growing recognition that multiple policies and factors across boundaries must be taken into account to explain the migrant’s progress.

More attention is thus now being paid to the transnational picture: the role that countries of origin can play in the integration process. Migrant-sending countries both affect and are affected by integration at destination. Better integration outcomes can elevate emigrants to a position in the host society from which they can support development at origin. Countries of origin can play a part in this process by actively engaging their nationals abroad and devoting resources to interventions among emigrants in destination communities.

Yet the promotion of country-of-origin strategies alone is insufficient to assure successful integration of their nationals at destination. In cases where destination-country conditions are unfavourable for successful integration, so too appear the outcomes of origin-country integration initiatives. The active participation of origin countries—even where interventions are well-funded and well-placed—is no panacea. Engineering favourable conditions at destination in tandem with complementary origin-country policies should therefore remain a priority for the European Union and its Member States.