Background:

In 2022, approximately 24 million non-EU nationals lived in the EU, making up 5.3% of its total population. According to Eurostat statistics, the number of immigrants coming to the Union from non-EU countries continues to grow. As a result, the integration of third-country nationals remains at the top of the political agenda at both national and supranational levels, and its importance has been acknowledged through various EU policy documents. In November 2020, the European Commission presented the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion for the period 2021-2027. The Action Plan supports national governments, local authorities, and civil society engaged in the process of fostering migrant integration in the EU. One of its objectives is to have an improved evidence base to further help the development of policies and to ensure good monitoring of results. 

The EMN has investigated the issue of integration in several studies and informs over the past five years (see for example, the 2019 EMN study on the “Labour market integration of third-country nationals in EU Member States” or the 2022 EMN study on the “Integration of migrant women”. However, the EMN has not yet conducted research that specifically focuses on whether and how the EMN Member and Observer Countries define, benchmark, and monitor the integration of third-country nationals. This ad hoc query and the impending Inform that will result aims to fill this gap.

Respondents:

26 responses, including from Belgium, were collected for this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• The concept of integration is rarely defined in legal instruments. Most responding countries reported that integration is mainly defined in policy documents, and often only in certain contexts, for instance for international protection. When a definition exists, it often replicates the language used by the EU, which refers to integration as a “two-way process” between migrants and the host society.
   
• Most countries report having a policy or a strategy in place to monitor the integration of third-country nationals, but the level of government at which this strategy is defined varies (national, regional, or local level).
   
• Similarly, the institutions involved in integration monitoring vary greatly across responding countries. This competence is mostly assigned to ministries or governmental authorities competent for integration (as is the case in BE), but also statistical offices, research institutes, ombudsman offices, etc.
   
• The areas of integration monitored are mainly: language learning and education, employment, income and poverty, social welfare and health, accommodation and housing, asylum and residence, civic integration, naturalisation, family reunification, and discrimination. Other areas of integration are sometimes monitored through surveys to capture the perceptions and experiences of migrants and host societies.
   
• Some countries have identified good practices in the monitoring of integration of third-country nationals, such as the coordination among various integration actors, including between academia and policy-makers, as many integration monitoring exercises are often conducted as academic research projects.
   
• In BE, some challenges were pointed out notably regarding the difficulty of organising surveys (identifying and motivating persons to answer, GDPR issues). More generally, integration issues have become increasingly sensitive both among citizens and politicians, making it difficult to report on integration correctly. Finally, the lack of coordination on monitoring instruments and concepts within and between regions in Belgium makes it difficult to ensure that the same data is being measured across the country.

For additional information, please read the compilation of answers above. An Inform analyzing these answers will be published shortly.