Under the Italian Presidency of the European Union a two days conference on European Migration Policy and Integration is organized in Rome on 17-18 December 2014.

This meeting will discuss the dynamics by which migrants get stuck in low-skilled work, and the role of training and employment services in helping them progress in their occupations.

Since 13 November 2014 and until May 2015, Belgium is chairing the Committee of Ministers, the political decision making organ of the Council of Europe. Under the Belgian Presidency, migration and asylum will be part of the issues tackled.

Eurostat published data on first residence permits issued to non-EU nationals. A residence permit represents an authorization issued by the competent authorities of a country allowing third-country national (non-EU citizens) to stay legally on its territory.

The IOM Country Office for Belgium and Luxembourg organize an event to illustrate the positive contribution of migrants, in various domains and to highlight some concrete examples of their contributions to the host societies at the international, European, and Belgian levels.

The joint European Commission-OECD report on Matching Economic Migration with Labour Market Needs shows that migration and mobility have a key role to play to address demographic decline and skills shortages in the EU.

This International Symposium aims to discuss the current challenges of migration and integration in Europe, and to reignite the debate about an EU-wide strategy to improve integration policies across Member States.

Fragomen organizes a training session to explore the latest information on business immigration into Belgium.

The Centre for the History of Migrants (CGM) organizes an international workshop to analyze how policies and practices travel, especially between the Netherlands and Belgium as neighbouring countries with more or less similar immigration histories.

The ICT Directive enters into force today 28 May 2014. Member States shall transpose the Directive by 29 November 2016.

The Commission reports to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of the EU Blue Card Directive. It assesses the attractiveness of the EU Blue Card and examines how measures were enacted in national legislation.

TRICUD Final International Conference aims at presenting the main findings of the multidisciplinary research programme TRICUD (2010-2014) on post-migratory cities and transnational flows, the dynamics of identities and the process of cultural diversification.

The summit took stock of progress made on Roma inclusion in the EU. It focused on three major themes: making policies inclusive for all Roma at the local level; making EU funding reach the local and regional authorities; making Roma integration a local reality.

Following the vote in the European Parliament on 5 February 2014, today the Council formally adopted a new Directive on third-country national seasonal workers. Member states will need to transpose the directive within two and a half years after publication in the Official Journal.

Helga de Valk, Professor aan de Vrije Universiteit Brussel, is willing to show that applying the sociological life course approach to migration and integration research may advance our understanding of immigrant settlement patterns and further develop the life course perspective.