Statelessness remains a complex legal and policy issue across Europe and globally. According to UNHCR’s ‘Mid-Year Trends 2025’, approximately 4.4 million people worldwide are stateless, while at the end of 2024, an estimated 340.000 stateless persons or persons of undetermined nationality were present in the European Union. However, as highlighted in previous EMN work, comparable statistical measurements remain limited due to differences in data sources and the difficulty of distinguishing stateless persons from persons of undetermined nationality. In this context, statelessness continues to pose significant challenges for affected individuals in terms of access to fundamental rights, legal certainty and administrative protection.

Against this background, this Inform provides a comparative analysis of national legal and policy frameworks on statelessness across participating countries, identifying recent developments, persistent gaps and variations in practice, with a view to supporting evidence-based policy discussion.

The key findings of this Inform are presented below:

• 24 EU Member States plus Norway, Georgia and Serbia are party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, while 21 EU Member States plus Norway, Georgia and Serbia are party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Accession has continued in recent years, with some Member States completing or advancing ratification processes.
   
• There is no harmonised approach across EU Member States to statelessness determination procedures, which vary between dedicated administrative procedures, general administrative or judicial procedures, and ad hoc arrangements.
   
• In most Member States, recognition of statelessness is not directly linked to the issuance of a residence permit, meaning that recognised stateless persons do not automatically obtain a right of residence and must apply under other legal grounds to regularise their stay.
   
• Access to employment, education, healthcare and social assistance does not depend on statelessness recognition itself, but on residence status, which may place stateless persons in situations of legal uncertainty where no residence permit is granted.
   
• Most Member States provide some safeguards to prevent statelessness among children born on their territory, often through the application of ius soli under certain conditions or through facilitated naturalisation, but only around half have comprehensive safeguards in place.
   
• There is generally no dedicated statelessness determination procedure adapted to the specific vulnerabilities of stateless unaccompanied minors, although guardianship and legal aid are usually provided in existing procedures.
   
• In most Member States, limited or no provisions exist for children born en route to the EU to obtain a birth certificate or equivalent documentation in the country of arrival.

For further details, please read the Inform attached above.