The number of “third country nationals” (legal immigrants) living in the EU today is 20 million, and rising.  While immigration is an important part of the solutions to Europe’s economic, demographic and competitive issues, setting effective legal and political frameworks for integration is a challenge. To shape and improve effective integration policies, it is essential to have comparable information and fact-based dialogue.

WHAT IS MIPEX?

The Migrant Integration Policy Index measures policies in 25 EU Member States and 3 non-EU countries (Norway, Switzerland and Canada). It uses over 140 policy indicators to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in society.  Led by the British Council and Migration Policy Group (MPG), co-funded by the European Commission, it is the largest study of its kind ever conducted.

It covers six policy areas which shape migrants’ journeys to full citizenship: the ability to work, to reunite with family members, to reside long-term, to vote, to acquire nationality and to be protected from discrimination.

The goal is to encourage fact-based dialogue among citizens, civic leaders and policymakers through:

• Objective comparison of laws, policies and integration across 28 countries
• Information in a clear, concise, and comparable format that is easy to use by a wide audience
• National events linking the publication results with national contexts to inspire informed debate

HOW IS THIS ACHIEVED?

MIPEX consists of several elements:

• A quick-reference publication
• An interactive and user-friendly website and database
• EU and national press conferences
• High-level national debates, centred on information provided in the index, across nearly every country involved

MIPEX is produced every two years to track the ongoing progress of integration policies over time. The second and most recent edition (MIPEX II) was published in 2007. A third edition is planned.

THE MIPEX COMMUNITY & REACH THUS FAR

So far MIPEX has received a vast amount of interest from a broad community:

• 400 print, radio and TV features which reached over 80 million people
• National debates in 19 countries, as well as the European Parliament and 5 national parliaments.
• 2.5 million website hits and counting
• 6 national ministries have praised MIPEX publicly, stating it would improve the quality of their national policymaking
• Widely used reference point for policymakers and think tanks—incorporated in reports from international organisations including the EU, the OECD and Freedom House
• Resulting political action such as fact-finding missions by the Council of Europe and detailed reports in Latvia and Poland
• 113 endorsements from high-level leaders in civil society, business and politics
• 25 partner organisations including universities, research institutes, think-tanks, foundations, NGOs and equality bodies

WHAT’S NEXT?

Following the success of MIPEX I and II, MIPEX III is planned for launch in 2010. It will add:

• The two newest EU Member States: Romania and Bulgaria. There is also a possibility of including the USA, New Zealand and Australia in the research component of MIPEX III.
• Approximately 60 additional policy indicators
• 1 additional policy area (education)
• More signatories and partners
• More national events and debates
• More media and web exposure

Find out more about MIPEX at www.integrationindex.eu

For more information, please contact the Project Manager Isabelle.Vandegejuchte@britishcouncil.be